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Maggie Barnes Ceramicist British (active North Yorkshire, England, 2008) View objects by this artist.

(http://www.studiopottery.co.uk/sp/potter_profile.php?id=45     4-22-08)
Studio - Knaresborough, North Yorkshire, UK

Artists Statement
My work represents a personal response to a general, life-long interest in the natural world, geology, but in particular, marine life and palaeontology. Recent works are the result of lengthy observation of skeletal remains.

Porcelain is initially without form or colour - a material that is smooth and fine textured - a blank page on which to record creative interpretations. It is, for me, the most appropriate medium with which to create the character of the work.

Bones, shells and fossils all illustrate qualities of both fragility and strength, so does porcelain. The subtle colour changes on the surface of a shell can be represented using stained porcelain slips and bodies with no danger of contamination from substances within the clay body itself. The various shades and nuances of whiteness on a bird skull bleached by the elements will also have authenticity when embodied in porcelain.

With patience and appropriate tools it is possible to work the material to extremes. Rims and edges can be shaved or pinched to eggshell thinness whilst leather hard, then transformed by the fire to translucent, illuminated blades of ethereal lightness - impossible to achieve with stoneware.

It is neither necessary nor desirable to copy Nature's design solutions. Porcelain allows me to create items that evoke, and hopefully capture, something of the essence of the original source(s) of inspiration.

Current Work
Work in progress currently follows two trends; small hand-built sculptures in "Ice" porcelain, and porcelain paper-clay tiles and panels; these are decorated using pure porcelain slips.

Work generally available from:
Knaresborough studio (Visitors by appointment only)

Technical Information
I now use only Australian "Ice" porcelain for both sculptural forms and tiles and panels; not only for its extreme clarity and whiteness, but also because it marries well with 100% cotton fibres to produce a high quality paper-clay. Coloured slips are made using Potclays 1149 in powder form; this works well over the "Ice" porcelain body.

History and Major Exhibitions
1976-1979 Harrogate College of Art and Design - Studio Ceramics
1979 Accepted as licentiate member of the Society of Designer-Craftsmen
1981 New Ceramics - Rufford Craft Centre
1982 Northern Handbuilders - Cleveland College of Art & Design
Carved and Poerced Porcelain - Bohun Gallery, Henley-on-Thames
Ceramics '82 - Rufford Craft Centre
1983 Solo exhibition - Keramik-Galerie Bowig, Hannover, Germany
Mostly porcelain - Chestnut Gallery, Bourton-on-the-Water.
1984 Northern Potters Association - York City Art Gallery.
1985 International Ceramics
Inaugural exhibition - Neue Keramik-Galerie Bowig, Hannover, Germany
Solo exhibition - Marie Jordan Gallery, Wakefield
Accepted as a full member of the Society of Designer-Craftsmen.
1986 Eight approaches to porcelain - Amalgam Gallery, London
10th anniversary exhibition - Gallery "L" Hamburg, Germany.
1987 Porcelain - Rufford Craft Centre
Kunst und Antiquitaten Messe - Galerie "L" Hannover, Germany
Burg Coraidelstein Residency
Guest colleague of Keramik Meister Wendalin Stahl
Englische Kontraste - with Geoffrey Swindell - Galerie Bowig
Wendalin Stahl und Maggie Barnes - Ewers Galerie, Cologne.
1988 Bottles & Bowl book launch "Ceramic Form" by Peter Lane Craftsmen.
1989 Artist in Residence at:
Scarborough & District primary schools - sponsored by Marks & Spencer and Yorkshire Arts
Barnado's - Ian Tetley Memorial School - Sponsored by Barnardo's and Yorkshire Arts
Rockley Mount School for the disabled - Sponsored by the Hawley Trust
Whitby & District primary schools - Sponsored by Yorkshire Arts
Appointed manager/consultant to GORDON REECE CERAMICS
Ceramiques d'Europe - Atelier 18 Brussels, Belgium.
1990 Trente Ceramistes - Atelier 18 Brussels, Belgium.
1991 Austellung am Buss und Bettag - Cochem-Brauheck, Germany, with Jochen Kuhnhenne, Natalja Sawinowa & Wasilij Zygankow
Christmas Exhibition - Atelier 18 Brussels, Belgium.
1992 Maggie Barnes "Showcase" - Galerie "L" Hamburg, Germany
Wendalin Stahl und Gaste - Westerwaldmuseum, Germany
Triennale de la Porcelaine - Nyon, Switzerland
Maggie Barnes Porcelaine - Atelier 18 Brussels, Belgium
Presentable Pots - Shipley Art Gallery, Gateshead, UK.
1993 Established EUROPEAN CERAMICS GALLERY, Knaresborough
Inaugural exhibition featured forty artists from across Europe.
1994 Undercurrants - A ten-month touring exhibition of work inspired by the sea and seashore
Warrington Art Gallery, Williamson Art Gallery, Birkenhead Oldham Art Gallery, Grundy Art Gallery, Blackpool, Turnpike Gallery, Leigh, Lancashire.
"On the Tiles" exhibition in aid of Shelter - Rufford Craft Centre.
1995 Series of exhibitions to launch the book, "Contemporary Porcelain" by Peter Lane
Zeitgenossische Porzellan, Keramik-Galerie, Bowig
Contemporary Porcelain, EUROPEAN CERAMICS GALLERY, UK
International Porcelain, Candover Gallery, UK
Ligne Porcelaine, Kortrijk, Belgium.
1999 The Warehouse Gallery, home of EUROPEAN CERAMICS demolished to make way for a Social housing project.

2001, Autumn PORCELAIN & PAPER: Awarded a Research and Development Grant by the Yorkshire Arts Board in order to explore the qualities and characteristics of the two materials and how they might be combined.

2002, Spring and Summer Launch of new work at the Knaresborough Studio.

2003 ART CONNECTIONS: Launch Event at Skipton Castle North Yorkshire
HARROGATE DISTRICT OPEN EXHIBITION: Mercer Gallery—Harrogate
"WHITE PORCELAIN" St Joseph Galerie Leeuwarden Netherlands
"OPEN HOUSE" Solo exhibition at The Studio, Knaresborough.

2004 "COLOURED PORCELAIN" St Joseph Galerie Leeuwarden Netherlands
"CHRISTMAS PRESENT" Shipley Art Gallery Gateshead
"NEW PORCELAIN" The Studio Knaresborough.



Curatorial Work
2000 - EUROPEAN CERAMICS at the Yorkshire Museum
2000 - EUROPEAN CERAMICS 2000 at Lotherton Hall
2000 - Eric James Mellon at the Yorkshire Museum.
2001 - White Gold - studio porcelain at the Mercer Gallery
2001 - Ashraf Hanna at the Mercer Gallery
2002 - EUROPEAN CERAMICS opened showcases alongside the W.A. Ismay collection at the 2002 - Yorkshire Museum, Museum Gardens, York.
2003 - EUROPEAN CERAMICS at the Yorkshire Museum - a major solo exhibition by Gabriele Koch.
2004 - EUROPEAN CERAMICS at Birthwaite Hall - an exhibition of new work by Sarah-Jane Selwood




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