Walter KEELER

View in collection One of the UK's leading ceramic artists with an international reputation, he studied at Harrow School of Art, noted for training production potters and established his first studio in 1965 where he produced domestic stoneware. In 1976 he moved to Monmouthshire in Wales and created an innovative range of salt-glaze stoneware for which he quickly developed an international reputation. The designs draw on eighteenth century Staffordshire moulded pottery, the forms of Roman blown glass and old-fashioned metal milk churns and oil cans. Meticulously crafted, the work has a characteristic grey colour and orange-peel surface typical of saltglaze firing. Since the late 1990s he has produced new ranges of work based on fluid cream and green decoration reminiscent of early Staffordshire wares. His work relates to domestic pottery and is often functional, but always challenges the viewer with its playful approach to form. He taught at the University of the West of England, Bristol where he was professor until his retirement in 2003.

Details

• Dates: b. 1942