Tony Laverick @ Gallery Plus

To see Tony’s incredible ceramic vessels pop into the gallery, or get in touch and we will be happy to supply you with further images and details of all the current work.

We are also happy to offer a mail order service and can accept payment by most debit and credit cards over the telephone, or via Paypal or online banking. Click here to email us, or give us a call on 01328 711609.

- Artist statement -

Tony was born in Sunderland in 1961. He trained in Studio ceramics at Preston Polytechnic from 1981-84 and gained a Distinction from the Society of Designer Craftsmen. He worked in the ceramic industry in Stoke-on-Trent including Coalport China (then part of the Wedgwood Group) from 1986-88 as a designer.

This background gives him a broad appreciation of ceramics and techniques. He is interested in the art-ware produced by Royal Doulton in the late 19th and early 20th centuries and French potters such as Clement Massier. He also has influences from outside the ceramic world: Kandinsky, Malevich, Mondrian, Nicholson, Brancusi, Rodchenko and the designs of Frank Lloyd Wright are just some.

Tony’s work draws on these various sources and cultures, and he is always evolving his own original vision. He uses the surface of the pot as a painter uses a canvas. Controlled, linear designs are juxtaposed with looser, more painterly decoration. But he finds that to use the medium of ceramics makes the “paintings” he creates much more accessible.

To stand in front of a painting and admire it is one thing. But he feels that to be able to hold a piece of art in your hands, feel the surface and the weight of it adds another dimension to the experience. It provides a connection with the artist whose hands will have created and also held that piece.

There is a combination of human judgement and technique that Tony still finds exciting and rewarding. From one firing to another, it is possible to detect the constant metamorphosis of his work. He is constantly expanding his own limits, pushing boundaries and taking risks that are necessary for growth, and it is this quality that, in his opinion, distinguishes the artist from the craftsman.

In 2014, Tony was made a Fellow Member of the Craft Potter’s Association and in 2015 he was selected to be a member of Contemporary Applied Arts