Richard Wilson

Richard was born and brought up in Norwich, and has been making pots since the early 1970s. He produces a wide range of domestic ware as well as larger, one-off vases and plates from his workshop in West Bay, Dorset.

Richard studied at Great Yarmouth College of Art and then worked at Le Dieu Pottery in Norwich from 1974 to 1980. He then travelled overseas to work for three years in Australia and New Zealand and then spent a further five years in Germany, where he worked with many potters using different techniques, in particular woodfired saltglazes. In Germany, the potters' work drew from Eastern European designs, and Richard himself has been especially inspired by Hungarian and Romanian slipware from the 1800s. He has also been strongly influenced by the Cardew tradition of English country pottery, having spent some months working at Wenford Bridge in the 1980s, learning about the strengths and subtleties of Cardew's work.

Recently, Richard's work has explored colour and abstract patterns in strong forms that capture the ebb and flow of the sea and the landscape of South West Dorset. His work has a strong emphasis on slip decoration, with bold, abstract designs overlaid with slip-trailed patterns.

Richard exhibits his work widely, including the UK, Europe and the Caribbean.