About Carys

Carys draws inspiration from nature, folklore and rituals. Her designs vary from practical, functional everyday art to statement pieces. Carys originally trained as a print maker and this often shows through in the detail of the surface decoration. You will find raw clay surfaces contrasting with a shiny, smooth glaze finish or highly decorated surfaces alongside negative space. The inspiration behind many of her pieces stem from growing up in a remote Cumbrian hamlet, where relics, stories and folklore were commonplace. 

"I love the challenge of creating in clay. To visualise the finished pieces and work out how to create it is something I enjoy. I have often made and remade a piece in my head many, many times before I start to sketch and definitely before I touch the clay. I work out the best techniques to build it, the pressure points of the make and how the firing will affect the piece. I decide upon the glaze finish I want to strive for and how this finish will compliment my vision. During my life I have worked in many different mediums and specialised in Printmaking during my Arts degree. I think this has benefited my ceramic practice and helps me to take the surface decoration of my work to another level. I definitely visualise in layers and how they build to create the finished effect which is something that I credit to my printmaking training.

Ancient woodlands and their landscapes have always called to me. Even though I have lived in Australia for nearly 20 years, it is the fells, craggy rocks, gnarled trees and becks of Northern England and Wales that call to me. The quiet woods with their mossy floor and rocky becks that we played in and explored as children, the birds and woodland animals that are as familiar to me now as they ever have been. The rhythmic cycle of life in the farming community that rarely changes, is grounding and gives a sense of calm in an ever-changing world. The distance and having lived in other lands, seem to magnify and give clarity to just how special those areas are. In the untouched and remote woodlands, it is not so hard to imagine the folktales being true and the animals living their own magical lives that intertwine with the fairy folk. It is these images that come to me in my dreams."

Carys grew up in a very creative environment. Her mother is an artist and the village of Banks where she grew up has been home to a number of prominent artists over the years, most notable Ben Nicholson and his wife Winfred Nicholson, and was home to the LYC Museum and Art Gallery.

Li Yuan-chia outside the LYC Museum and Art Gallery

Li Yuan-chia bought the farm buildings from his friend and neighbour, the artist Winifred Nicholson and transformed them into the LYC Museum. At its peak, it hosted four new exhibitions a month; each accompanied by a catalogue that he designed and printed. Some of the artists shown ranged from local artists (Andy Christian, Susie Honour) to totemic national figures (Paul Nash, Barbara Hepworth) and contemporary artists, now of international renown (Lygia Clark, Andy Goldsworthy), but then barely known in Britain. Apart from galleries, LYC Museum also had a children’s art room, library, performance space, printing press, communal kitchen and garden. It was an open space for the multiple possibilities of art.

During her childhood years Carys spent many happy days in the children's room, playing in the gardens, exploring the exhibition spaces and accessing Li's never ending supply of paper! 

Carys completed her Art degree BA(Hons) studying in the UK and USA. She has exhibited in solo and group exhibitions in the UK, USA and Australia and has taught art classes in the UK and Australia. Her arts practice continues to develop as she creates work that is stocked in boutiques across Australia and America as well as original art pieces. As a keen learner the ceramics world captures and holds her imagination with its many possibilities of making techniques, glazes to be created and surface decoration possibilities. 

Farmers Weekly Art Competition - Farms of the Future. 1980 (I think!)

We are committed to making beautiful handmade ceramic pieces that are all unique and made with love. We believe that the things you surround yourself with should bring you joy and have worth. They should have meaning and soul, and a story to tell.

We encourage you to join us and stand against the mass produced throw away mindset, to reduce your personal waste and choose things that are responsibly produced and hold meaning to you.

 

Carys on the potters wheel in the early 1980's

Exhibition History

  • ‘Real Art’ Journal. Limited Edition book of prints. Sold in Galleries and Tate, London. 1991 No 1, 1994 Vol.2 No.5, 1995 Vol.2 No.7, 2000 Vol. 3 No. 3.

  • Craftsmen at the Priory, Lanercost, Cumbria. Annual group exhibition 1991-1999

  • Potsdam Art Show, New York State Uni. 1994

  • University Art Degree Show, York. 1996

  • Affordable Art Fair, London. 1999

  • Wolfson College, Oxford University. Solo Exhibition. 1997

  • Linacre College, Oxford University. Solo Exhibition. 1998

  • Hanover Gallery, Liverpool. Group exhibition. 1999

  • The Little Things Art Prize. Saint Cloche Gallery, Woollahra 2018

  • Siliceous Award for Ceramic Excellence. Brisbane Institute of Art 2018

  • Old School House Gallery, Cleveland 2019. 2022
  • Elemental. Ceramic Arts Queensland annual members exhibition, Brisbane Institute of Art 2023
  • The Art Of Imagination. Finalist. Royal Queensland Arts Society. Petrie Terrace Gallery, Queensland. 2023
  • Whispers From The Woods. Machinery St Gallery. Artisan. Solo Exhibition. Brisbane.  Dec 2023 - Feb 2024
  • Glass House Gallery. Plant Empire Solo Exhibition April 2024
  • Work in private collections in UK, America, Canada and Australia
Media - 

Carys's Art degree exhibition

The Studio Calendar

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