Trefor OWEN

View in collection Born to Welsh speaking parents in Middlesex, he was brought up in Prestatyn. On leaving school he worked for the Forestry Commission and, following his National Service (1955-1957), became woodsman/gardener to Lord Langford, Bodrhyddan Hall, Dyserth. He attended Wimbledon School of Art (1960-1963) where he was taught by Richard Bateson, one of the last surviving country potters. He made earthenware, functional pottery and slipware. Strongly influenced by the philosophy and work of the early studio potters, particularly Bernard Leach and Michael Cardew, after leaving Wimbledon (1964) he ran the Llangollen pottery for six months and then built his first wood-fired kiln at Felin Wen, Pontrug. He taught pottery at Harrow school where he experimented with stoneware bodies and glazes. His first workshop was in Shepherds Bush, London (1969), which he shared with Terry Bell Hughes. He worked for Bryan Newman in South London and in 1970, moved back to Wales and started a workshop at Ymwlch, near Criccieth, where he made wood-fired stoneware (1970-1973). At that time he was influenced by early Chinese and Japanese pottery, especially Sung wares. He moved to Maentwrog and set up the Crochendy Twrog Pottery in 1974 where he still lives, making wood-fired, reduced stoneware. The early influences of Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada persist combined with Celtic art. He often uses wood-ash for glazes utilising material taken from the surrounding countryside, pine, apple, rhododendron and birch. He is an honorary warden of a local nature reserve and wishes to convey his love of nature and the countryside in his work. He is a founder member of the Guild of North Wales Potters. His work is in the collections of the National Museum of Wales and he was one of the first people whose work was acquired through a commission from the Arts Council of Wales for the Aberystywth collection when it was re-established in the 1970s.

Details

• Dates: b.1936