MEET OUR MAKERS

PAUL VINING

Ceramicist / Gwneuthyrwr Cerameg

Paul Vining has been making ceramics for only ten years, but he has been looking at and studying them for much longer. Largely self-taught, Paul works from a studio in Cardiff, producing individual stoneware ceramics in which the emphasis is on ceramic form.

Clay pots are emblematic of civilisation and Paul seeks to combine prehistoric and modernist forms. They follow in a long tradition of vessel-making, not just for use but also for contemplation. He particularly admires the sculptural vessels of twentieth-century master Hans Coper for their restless exploration of form and materiality.

Most of Paul’s ceramics are thrown on the wheel; others are coiled, and some produced using both techniques. Paul often combines two or more thrown forms (e.g. bowls) to create a new form, to which he adds a disc, flange or neck.

All of Paul’s ceramics are high-fired (usually to about 1280-1290°C), either in an electric kiln, or reduction-fired in a gas kiln that he has built himself. Instead of proprietary glazes, he has developed his own, often using local materials especially wood ash. Although Paul undertakes extensive glaze tests, firing (especially in a gas-fuelled kiln) is prone to the vagaries of the flame, sometimes – but not always! – with serendipitous results.

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