Nic COLLINS

View in collection After training at Derby College of Art, Nic Collins widened his experience by working as a thrower in potteries in Italy and Germany. In 1988 he moved to Devon and set up his first workshop at Powdermills and in 2000 moved to Moretonhamstead. He responded to the wild rural environment by making pots often with locally sourced clay and wood firing techniques. He is influenced by older pottery traditions and kilns as well as adaptations and experiments to create contemporary work. He is part of a group of experimental wood-firers including the potters Clive Bowen and Svend Bayer, who sometimes assist at each others kiln firings. These are lengthy and laborious events, involving friends working in 6 hour shifts, lasting up to 80 hours and firing to temperatures of 1300 C. He is passionate about the effects achieved by different clays, ash and shino glazes and multiple firings to create varied surface textures. At the 2005 International Ceramics Festival, Nic Collins built an experimental anagama kiln over two days and then fired it over three days.

Details

• Dates: b. 1958