Alan Howard

The ceramic making industries is one of the oldest crafts known and it allowed nomadic populations to move around and survive. Many containers used have survived for centuries and are now used as a source archaeological information. Alan's work thinks a lot about the materials and its purposes, historically and in contemporary settings.

This consideration is all anticipation for when Alan sits down at the pottery wheel with a blob of soft clay at the centre. The mind, the eye and the feel are the senses combined to create new shapes. The clay is pushed and lifted between his hands and fingers, with the help of water, as the wheel spins. 

This stage of construction, like the use of the final product, is very tactile which he enjoys. The use of earths' natural elements, silica, water, and fire appeals to him.