Northern Potters Association

The aim of the NPA is to encourage and support artists in the production of sculptural, functional, fine art and decorative studio pottery in all its forms throughout the North of England

Brown, Charles

  • Slipware Vases by Charlie Brown
  • Slipware jars by Charlie Brown

I have been making pots for 40 years, off and on, throughout my working life. My move to the Yorkshire Dales has given me the time and space I needed to pursue this obsession.

I work within the Slipware tradition making both decorative and functional pots, predominately wheel thrown but often with modelled additions. Some flatware is hand-formed on slump or hump moulds.

The pots are decorated simply, using a limited palette of slips and glazes, once fired in a gas fuelled kiln to between 1060°C and 1100°C.

I am interested in pottery that demonstrates the plastic nature of the raw material and shows the hand of the maker.

My aim is to retain the spontaneity of the making in the finished pot.

I take English medieval and post-medieval pottery forms and methods of decoration as a starting point for developing new work, at the same time contemporary and traditional in spirit, and “racy of the soil”.