Welcome

Welcome to Stevie D Pottery.

I produce wheel-thrown functional stoneware pottery at my home studio on the Isle of Wight. Many of my pots are decorated with brushwork in rutile and iron over a base glaze. The rutile reacts with the underlying glaze to produce a range of attractive colours, sometimes quite intense, and this gives my work a distinguishing character of its own.

“Rutile is that unbelievably beautiful glaze additive that produces colors ranging from light and dark blue, to tan, gold, yellow, and even purple. It also produces a range of crystal formations. It seems to behave however it chooses, depending on the glaze base and the firing conditions.“

Quote taken from ceramic arts network

ochre and blue-grey jar

About

I studied ceramics at Manchester Polytechnic, gaining a BA (Hons) in 3Dimensional Design, specialising in wheel thrown pottery and jewellery. After a period of teaching art and pottery, and with the availability of pc computers I began to teach myself skills in graphic design and website design. A few years later I had the opportunity to do some adult teaching of photoshop, indesign, websites, and courses on how to make calendars and address books.

During the summer of 1980 I had the opportunity to work at Coxwold Pottery under Peter Dick. Peter made wood-fired earthenware, both table ware and plant pots, decorating his pots with slip trailed designs which were made more stunning with the glaze being enhanced with flashes of wood ash.

coxwold pottery
Coxwold Pottery

Following my time at Coxwold Pottery I made a lot of large plates decorated with slip trailing, something which I’m hoping to return to making more of.

My other interests include playing the piano, especially works by Chopin (Scherzo in B♭m, Ballade I), Schumann (Kriesleriana) and Rachmaninov (Prelude op23 no.4 and Etudes Tableaux op33 no.4).

small jug
Small jug made at Manchester Polytechnic 1981. Celadon glaze over iron slip with scraffito.
coxwold village
Coxwold village, acrylic on paper (16″ x 12″)

The Making Process

From throwing and forming the clay vessel on the potter’s wheel, to assembling the different parts of a teapot, and pulling and attaching handles to jugs, I often keep a photo and video record of the making process.

On the Making Pots page you can see photos and videos of the making process for different pots.

Articles

Similarities and insights

In 2017 I had been watching some short video clips of a stream above Rydalwater in the Lake District and was captivated with the dancing, swirling, life presence of the water.

As I then watched some of the videos I have of pots being made on the potter’s wheel I began to notice similarities between the stream and the forming of a pot on the wheel.

Read the full article on the posts page here.

Contact

Jar grey-green with blue and ochre

Visits to my studio currently by appointment.

Email: hello@steviedpottery.co.uk