MEET OUR MAKERS

MARGARET BRAMPTON

ceramicist / Gwneuthurwr Cerameg

I make traditional wheel thrown slipware.

I first encountered pottery when I was eleven years old when my parents took me to Ewenny Pottery. Seeing the basic material ‘earth’ being manipulated on the wheel and then being transformed into pots was like alchemy. The potter, seeing I was spell bound asked me if I would like a go. Being shy I declined but really regretted it.The opportunity presented its self again when I went to Cardiff College of Education and pottery was one of the options. I knew it was for me and went on to gain a B.Ed in ceramics.

My first studio was in Chapter Arts Centre after which I taught in a variety of settings. About twenty years ago I became interested in slipware and switched from stoneware to earhenware. I am absorbed by the capacity to use the pots surface to draw on. I decorate my work with themes drawn from medieval manuscripts and flora and fauna. I am influenced by the continental and North Devon slipwares. A major design element on most of my work is the use of script. The decoration is produced with sgraffito techniques and is coloured using oxides and underglaze colours.

Rwy'n gwneud darnau slip traddodiadol wedi’u taflu ar olwyn.

Deuthum ar draws crochenwaith pan oeddwn yn un ar ddeg oed pan wnaeth fy rhieni fynd a mi i Grochenwaith Ewenni. Roedd gweld y 'pridd' - deunydd sylfaenol oedd yn cael ei drin ar yr olwyn ac yna'i drawsnewid yn botiau fel alcemi i mi. Gofynnodd y crochenydd, gan weld fy mod i wedi fy hudo, wedi gofyn i mi a hoffwn drio taflu fy hun. Gan fod yn swil, fe wrthodais ond roeddwn yn difaru yn syth. Fe wnaeth y cyfle gyflwyno ei hun eto pan es i Goleg Addysg Caerdydd a chrochenwaith oedd un o'r opsiynau. Roeddwn i'n wrth fy modd â chrochenwaith, ac enillais B.Ed mewn cerameg.

Yng Nghanolfan Celfyddydau Chapter oedd fy stiwdio gyntaf, ac ar ers hynny, rwy'n dysgu mewn amrywiaeth o leoliadau. Tua ugain mlynedd yn ôl daeth diddordeb mewn darnau slip a newid o waith crochenwaith caled i briddwaith. Rwy'n hoff o’r syniad o allu defnyddio'r arwyneb i ddylunio arno. Rwy'n addurno fy ngwaith gyda themâu gwahanol o lawysgrifau canoloesol a fflora a ffawna. Ceir ysbrydoliaeth gan waith slip cyfandirol a Gogledd Dyfnaint. Elfen ddylunio ar y rhan fwyaf o'm gwaith yw defnyddio sgript. Mae'r addurniad yn cael ei gynhyrchu â thechnegau sgraffito ac mae wedi'i liwio gan ddefnyddio ocsidau a lliwiau dan wydredd.