Alison Hannah
Ceramic Artist
Alison is a ceramic artist working from her studio space in Totnes with views of Totnes Castle, the spires of St John and St Mary’s Churches and the Tors of Dartmoor in the distance.
“Poettery”; Plein-Air Paint, Poetry and Pots
Alison’s artistic practice combines poetry, paintings and 3D ceramics and captures the interactions between people and landscape. The intention of her work is to celebrate the special qualities and distinctive characteristics of the South Devon and Cornwall shoreline, foreshores, estuaries, moors and woodland. Artefacts aim to highlight the rich and diverse natural characteristics of these settings in order to engender consideration for the cultural heritage of this uniquely significant area. Her work features her own original poetic verse painting pictures with words to illustrate the history and movement of life in breath-taking locations aiming to further illustrate the human movement in iconic and intricate settings.
Alison hopes to draw attention to emerging social issues and to promote more widely a dialogue and consideration for these and other conservation challenges that may impact on the future preservation of this exceptional setting and others like it.
She creates works featuring watercolour sketches that capture the colour and content of the Devon coastline and Dartmoor. Aware of the transience of humanity, these artefacts aim to provide a legacy of this Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and to capture in image, shape and words a descriptive record of what she sees. She captures scenes in watercolour making waterslide transfers of the artwork to fire onto the clay after the glaze firing. This produces pots that are unique and one-of-a-kind. The combination of her own original artwork with the unique shaping of the clay presents individual and distinct ceramics that are pleasing to hold and interesting to look at. View samples of her work at www.alisonhannahclayworks.co.uk.
Purity of Porcelain
Delicate and refined porcelain pots work to accentuate the colours and detail of her sketches and the purity of the clay lends itself well to presenting colour and contrast in the finished piece. For those cosy days ahead in the Autumn and Winter months, Alison is making hand-thrown and hand-poured candles and other back-lit porcelain objects. The detail and colours of the Devon watercolours are enlivened by the lighting of the natural flame and extracts from verses of my poetry adds an interesting element of intrigue.
Of Dartmoor’s Labour
Granite ring sounds skylarks’ song. Sweet.
Feathered form scars Tor-side cleave.
From bracken line ‘long Templar Way,
Paved cotton-grass leads stonechats say.
The Making Schedule
Alisons’ working week requires a level of self-discipline and organisation in order to keep to schedule and ensure that the kiln is full to capacity before firing. A significant chunk of her working week involves the planning for events, preparation and management of the studio and the communication of Alisons’ “story” for publication on social media and other channels.
Stoneware for Strength
For pots that might face wear and tear, Alison throws, coils and slab-builds forms in white stoneware and occasionally a warm crank heavily grogged stoneware. For the indoor garden, she has created textured slab-built cube-pots with the use of rope and leather which works well with clay presenting a contrast of texture and colour to the pot.
Mindful Learning: From Consumer to Producer
With over 25 years of teaching experience, her practice is heavily influenced by the process and practice of self-management, creative and purposeful thinking characterised by resourcefulness and spontaneity. An instinctive passion for self-development and first-hand knowledge of the benefit of working collaboratively has driven forward her skills and context in the studio. Visitors to the studio engage in the creative processes in order to reveal the intricacies of the production process with the aim to appreciate the care, quality and detail of the haptic skills and mindful processes involved in the making process.
Current Memberships
West Country Potters Association (Website Officer)
Craft Potters Association
Salcombe Art Club
A-N Artists Information Company
Exhibitions
Devon Open Studios 2021 (Bursary Winner 2021)
Totnes Potters Exhibition at the Birdwood House, Totnes October 2022
WPA Exhibition Stand, The Craft Festival, Bovey Tracey, 2021
Contemporary Passions SHAF Harbour House Gallery, Kingsbridge July 2022
Teaching
Dartington Hall Trust,
Craft Revolution Christmas Programme Dec 2021
The Pottery Studio, Mansion House, Totnes Jan 2022 onwards
1:1 Ceramics Tuition
Outlets
The Barn, Avon Mill Garden Centre, Loddiswell, Kingsbridge
Combenteignhead Artisan Craft Market
Studio 9 Popup, Totnes
Locally Sourced
Tools, equipment and print suppliers are ordered locally and Alison is pleased to support Totnes based printers, Veaseys and Exeter based ceramics supplier CTM pottery supplies. Stoneware ceramics are manufactured mainly using locally sourced clay derived from the Bovey Basin, Devon. Whilst we try and source materials from Devon, our Porcelain Clays are produced in the South West but outside of Devon.