I make wood-fired, hand-thrown, stoneware vessels for the home – mainly for the table and kitchen. A wide range of domestic and studio pieces, using traditional glazes such as tenmocho, celadons, cobalt blue, ash green, copper red etc – all exhibited in a light, airy, oak-framed studio.
My pottery is made on Dartmoor, from Cornish clay fired with Devon wood. I hope my pots, as do those of other societies, find some honest synthesis as a reflection of my own culture. Above all I hope they nourish!
The Pottery
Pottery is my chosen work because I feel most in tune with it. I enjoy making pots. Others prefer visual, conceptual or experimental media.
Pottery must be one of the most ancient activities, as people have always needed to eat and at some point – presumably becoming bored with raw food, or needing to make it more palatable, they started to experiment with the application of heat. He – or most probably she – then made clay vessels to cook, serve, eat from and store food. She explored her environment, dug earth, cleaned and slaked it before moulding and firing it. She then cooked the food and served it to her family.
Over time different forms evolved to serve both common needs and divergent expressions of feeling.
I have been fortunate to share food with people in their homes, from the banks of the Amazon to the mountains of Ethiopia. From the high Himalayas to the islands of the Pacific. The pots were all different but they were all unselfconscious expressions of their cultures, and all provided sharing and nourishment.
Contact or Visit
Perrymans Farm, Belstone,Okehampton, Devon EX20 1RD
01837 840206
We are often open daily, but keep irregular hours. If you are making a special journey, please phone to make sure the pottery is open – although you can of course drop in on-spec and take a chance if you wish.
From Belstone car park, opposite the village hall, proceed towards the village. Take the first left turn, signed Sticklepath. The pottery is at an off-white thatched house, with the “Perrymans” sign on the wall beside the gate. Go just past the house and turn in to the right, over the cattle grid, to park (and admire the view). The studio is all on the level with good wheelchair access.
