Talent Development Programme: Week 1

About the Talent Development Programme – Week 1

This is the first talk in the BCB Talent Development programme that took place during our 2021 festival. The programme was developed in partnership with the creative business development programme Factory and led by BCB’s Artistic Programme Manager, Rhiannon Ewing-James. We spoke to established professionals working in the field of contemporary ceramics and studio pottery. Additionally, they shared their experience and knowledge with early career artists.

What this session covers

In The Business of Setting Up with Kevin Millward

Kevin Millward shares his renowned experience of establishing his businesses over the years, providing key insights for those in the early stages of their own business and careers.

A Journey Through the Development of Practice with Nancy Fuller

Wood firing potter Nancy Fuller takes us on an honest, open account of her experience setting up and progressing as a potter, and the resilience it has taken for her to reach this point. Nancy and Rhiannon also discuss the joy, challenges and knowledge within Nancy’s work processes, and how to find balance in this journey.

The Brexit Ware Project with Harriet Coles

Harriet Coles introduces the Brexit Ware project, an artwork on ceramics that set out to record some of our collective experiences around the referendum and the politics that followed. It quickly took on a life of its own. Harriet shares her experiences and insights from this work and looks at how she started an ‘accidental business’.

Who is this for

This event is for artists:

• Starting out or who are early or progressing in their career in ceramics
• Interested in connecting with peers and fellow artists, makers and potters who are, similarly, setting out in their practice
• Who wants to learn from the experience of established makers, potters and artists working in the field of ceramics
• Who want to start building a tool kit to manage a sustainable creative career

The Talent Development Programme – Week 1 was delivered by

Kevin Milward 

As with most potters, Kevin started his training at art school. Following this, he went on to work at several studios including Cooper’s Pottery in Cheshire and later Gladstone Pottery Museum (1975). During which he was approached by Potterycrafts and subsequently became their craft advisor to help potters, schools, colleges as well as giving workshops and demonstrations all over the UK and Europe. About three years after, Kevin left to set up his studio in Leek making stoneware and porcelain. Alongside this, he taught and lectured at some of the UK’s leading universities specialising in ceramics, including Bucks New University, High Wycombe and University of Westminster, Harrow.

“I would say that one of the unusual side effects of my potting is the amount of TV work it has brought my way, from children’s TV and light-hearted game shows to serious documentaries and a cameo part in Coronation Street. More recently I have been a series consultant to The Great Pottery Throw Down.” Kevin Milward website link.

Nancy Fuller 

Nancy Fuller was born in a rural village in Taiwan and raised in the countryside in Scotland. Her wood-fired pottery seeks to address how she has experienced this unique journey through her creative processes and fired results. By transplanting the knowledge and techniques originating in ancient agricultural communities to a croft in Aberdeenshire, she creates traditional forms which inherently talk of a specific landscape, a time of year and herself, the maker. Nancy Fuller website link.

Harriet Coles 

Harriet has worked at the intersection between art and science as a journalist, scientist, curator and artist. She draws on 17th and 18th-century British tradition of political pottery to make ceramics that take contemporary issues into domestic settings. Her work is found in public and private collections around the world. Harriet Coles website link.

Accessibility

Subtitles are available. Furthermore, if you have any access requirements or needs, please get in touch with us via access@britishceramicsbiennial.com.

Supporters

This event has support from ACAVA Studios, ERDF, Factory, the Fresh Talent Programme crowdfunding, Schroder Charity and, finally, Staffordshire University.