Watford born Barry Stedman came to ceramics following a career in retail, when he was seduced by the possibilities of clay to express abstract ideas of colour and form. After completing a Ceramics degree at the University of Westminster in 2009 where he received the Caparo Award, Stedman joined the famed studio of Edmund de Waal as an assistant. His work has been featured in numerous exhibitions and galleries across the UK and internationally.
The ceramicist writes:
"My intention as a ceramic artist is to make colourful, dynamic forms that come out of a deep connection to the landscape. Often my work is rooted in the directness and urgency of drawing outside; responding to the weather, drama, and life which surrounds my garden studio by the river Flit in Bedfordshire. Starting on the wheel or constructed with slabs, the red earthenware vessels are marked and altered, scored and handled, before being painted with layers of coloured slips and oxides, washes of vivid colour enhanced with a bright rich clear glaze. [My] vessels are the offered to the kiln in an open dialogue of transformation; fired to 1100 degees and infused with the marks, rhythm and energy of their making."