Ceramics and Pottery Arts and Resources

 

A selection of South African ceramic artists, highlighting the rich diversity of their contemporary clayarts.

 

 

Donve Branch

 

Donvé currently works with kaolin and bastitle clay and uses primitive firing methods to explore the dynamic interplay of fire and earth that defines traditional African pots. She has been a South African Eastern Cape potter for over 45 years and has always loved the rhythm and focus that comes from throwing clay on the wheel. Her organic looking pottery features large burnished surfaces that allow her to explore primitive firing methods for her functional reduction wares. Donve likes to experiment with the many different forms of pit-firing and loves to test and  manipulate the vagaries of the delicate hues and serendipitous highlights that adorn pit-fired pots.
She has ran pottery workshops from her Port Elizabeth studio and was involved with Vlok Potteries but now concentrates soley on studio ceramics. She gravitates towards closed globular forms that are influenced by the functionality and strength of the wares of the rural potter. Donve is drawn to experimention with various combustibles, surface covers and chemicals combined with bisque fired vessels in open pits or saggers, subjecting the pots to single or multiple firings; driven by the desire to push the boundaries of her knowledge
Throwing pots of white earthenware that retain their European form, while pursuing the exploration of the relationship between clay and fire, that characterizes traditional African unglazed pots, defines her attractive pottery.

 

website

 

Globular pots – Donve Branch

 

 

Donve Branch

 

 

Donve Branch pit fired baluster vessel

 

 

 

 

Donve Branch

 

 

Donve Branch

 

 

Handbuilt  planter – Donve Branch

 

 

‘Nguni Jar’ – Donve Branch

Afrikana Gallery

 

Donve Branch – ovoid pit fired vessel

 

 

Tall ceramic bottles – Donve Branch

Afrikana Gallery

 

 

Donve Branch

 

 

Pit Smoked Bottle — Donve Branch

 

 

Donve Branch – squat bottle vessel with twin lugs

 

 

Donve Branch  — black burnished bottle

 

 

Squat ceramic pit fired bottle – Donve Branch

 

 

Three tall slender ceramic bottles — Donve BRanch

 

 

 

Two footed globular vessels  —  Donve Branch

 

 

Ginger Jar and Pit Smoked Plate – Donve Branch

 

 

 

Two figure plate – Donve Branch

 

 

Burnished globular bottle – Donve Branch

 

 

Donve Branch ceramic bowl

 

 

 

Charmaine Haines

 

Charmaine Haines ceramic wall figure fountain

 

 

 

Charmaine Haines  —  female face and bird motif footed vase

 

Charmaine Haines

 

 

Standing female figure vase – Charmaine Haines

 

Charmaine-Haines ceramic abstract figure sculpture

 

 

See more Charmaine Haines here

 

Lisa Liebermann

 

I have been playing with clay for as long as I remember. My journey has taken me from JHB to Cape Town and then to Plettenberg bay where I lived and worked for 15 years. Lisa, a third generation ceramic artist now lives in the vibrant Johannesburg again, creating bespoke commissions, offering regular art classes at a new pottery school in Raedene along with workshops and team building events.

 

 

Lisa Liebermann  —  round flat faced bottle, tribal figure motif

Agapanthus

 

Lisa Liebermann – hand painted ceramic vase

Agapanthus

 

Ceramic panel – Lisa Liebermann

 

 

Ceramic bottle vase with tall female tribal figure — Lisa Liebermann

 

 

Michael Cardew – ceramic chalice

 

 

 

Ceramic headrest – Imiso Ceramics

 

 

Imiso Ceramics—Hand Pinched walford1 white clay hand pinched bowl

 

 

 

John Shirley

 

 

John Shirley

 

 

Ardmore 

 

 

Ardmore Buck teapot

 

 

Ardmore floral motif dish

 

 

 

Ardmore Ceramics – Leopard relief planter

 

See more Ardmore here

 

 

Lucinda Mudge

 

Lucinda Mudge’s vivid vases captivate the eye with their rich colours and intricate detail, quite often expressing a range of contemporary and historical sources that convey a complex narrative.  Utilising hand-mixed glazes and stains, each piece is as unique as the narrative it tells using a broad range of themes, images and text. She also likes to pay homage to other famous ceramicists.

 

Striped vase by Lucinda Mudge – height 44cm

Agapanthus, Capetown

 

 

‘You Are Here’  — Lucinda Mudge vase with world map

 

 

Lucinda Mudge ‘Be Not Afraid’ ceramic vessel

height  48 cm

 

 

Lucinda Mudge  —  ceramic vase after Matteo Nigetti

height -43-cm

 

 

‘The beat of my heart’_yellow vase  – Lucinda Mudge

 

 

‘Thank You You’re Welcome’ ceramic vase — Lucinda Mudge

height -52 cm

 

 

Lucinda Mudge Mami Wata vase

 

 

 

Lucinda Mudge — ‘Bigger Better Faster Cooler’, vase

 

 

 

Honey bees vase – Lucinda Mudge

finarts.co

 

 

Lucinda Mudge – You Had It Coming You Know

 

 

 

‘After Cazeaux I’ ceramic vase -Lucinda Mudge

height 54 cm

 

 

‘After Catteaux II’ ceramic vase – Lucinda Mudge

height-49 cm

 

 

‘Take What You Want’ ceramic vase – Lucinda Mudge

 

 

 

Thijs Nel

 

Karoo landscape pottery  —  Thijs Nel

 

 

‘Meulsteen Altar’ – Thijs Nel Stoneware Sculpture

Gallery 88

 

 

‘Still Life on Sotho Blanket’ – oil on canvas by Thijs Nel

Gallery88

 

 

Thijs Ne sculptural ceramic vase

Gallery 88

 

Sculpture,– Koning en Koningin (King and Queen)  —  Thijs Nel

 

 

Thijs Nel, ZA

 

 

Large ceramic sculpture mask  – Thijs Nel

2016

 

‘Pomegranate Joy’ – Thijs Nel

760mm x 600mm – Acrylic on Canvas

 

 

Thijs Nel folded sculpture vessel

Gallery88

 

 

Lucky Madlo Sibiya calabash sgraffito vessel

 

 

Lucky Madlo Sibiya incised ceramic vessel, ZA

 

 

Ruan Hoffman-ceramic vase black and white abstract

 

 

Ruan Hoffman

 

 

 

Tim Morris ceramic rectangular dish

Agapanthus

 

 

 

Johannes Scott bowl

Agapanthus

 

 

Martin Haines  —  ‘Willow Tree Cat’

 

 

Martin Haines ceramic hare figurine

Agapanthus

 

 

Ralph Johnson stoneware bowl

 

 

Porcelain bowl Ralph Johnson

 

 

Lee Hensberg – Freakalee Ceramics

 

 

 

Lee Hensberg butter dish

Freakalee Ceramics