Ken Luckhurst – craftsman

Background

My involvement with clay began in 1996 when living in Sussex. I had recently stopped wood turning after ten years due to health problems caused by wood dust and was looking for a new medium in which to work.

I obtained some clay from a local brickworks and made some pots which they fired. I was soon hooked on clay and with a second-hand wheel and a small kiln, proceeded to learn how to make pots. I attended an ‘Introduction to Ceramics’ course in the evenings and borrowed books from the library. It was not long before I was producing saleable pots which I took to craft fairs.

Most of my work was thrown earthenware which I glazed with ready-made glazes. I was frustrated at not being able to throw the shapes that I really liked and gradually changed to coiling as my preferred technique.

Eventually, in 2000, I moved to Cornwall with my wife Carole to work as a gardener in the picturesque Lizard Peninsula.

I make pots in my leisure time, now specialising in sgraffito decorated ceramics and smoked fired earthenware. All my pots are made by the coiling process. When the pots are cool, having been fired to 900 degrees Centigrade in an electric kiln, they are buried in sawdust which is then ignited. As this smoulders, smoke penetrates the surface of the pots leaving random patterns unique to each piece of pottery. After washing, the pots are sealed and waxed, making them delightful to hold and admire.

Whenever possible, I use local clay that I either dig or acquire from excavation sites. I enjoy the challenge of turning raw clay into beautiful pots. It is surprising how local clays vary: from the Lizard, the clay fires to a rich red colour yet further around the coastline a deep brown.

I am inspired by classical shapes and natural forms and often decorate the surface of my pots with relief carvings or sgraffito (scratch decoration).

As I am a full-time gardener my pottery output is low. However, this allows me to produce quality pots that are individual, and a pleasure to own.

Ideas

Inspiration comes from many sources, I like the flowing lines of the Art Nouveau period, classical pot shapes that are so pleasing to the eye, and as a gardener of over twenty five years, plant forms and the beauty of things found in nature.