Chris Hughes –Potter and artist.

After a long career in education, just making pots in my spare time, I now concentrate on my pottery having established Ainsdale Pottery in a studio in my back garden. I hand build all my pots using pinching, coiling, slabbing and modelling techniques. I make bowls, bottles, plates and lamp-bases. My forms are often sharp edged and finely balanced, the bottle forms frequently twisting as they rise. I use features from the mountain and woodland landscapes of The Lakes, Snowdonia, the Peak District and the West Lancashire coast on my pots, while weathered doors, windows and stone walls also occur frequently.

For my drawings I use coloured pencils or pastels, liking the direct contact with the surface of the paper, using smudging and rubbing techniques to achieve the variations in tones and shades which I see in the skies, clouds, landscapes and water I try to represent. The drawings have become more and more abstract and many later works are totally so but remain heavily influenced by elements from the landscape.

I exhibit my work in local exhibitions; the Southport Palette Club exhibitions, Northern Potters, Southport Contemporary Arts, Crosby Hall Educational Trust and numerous exhibitions with the Art and Craft Guild of Lancashire for many years.