Bridget Tennent

Born in Cheshire, trained at Farnham and Froyle Pottery, I now live in Oxfordshire in an area once highly populated by our Neolithic ancestors. I wander widely, through the rolling Wolds and amongst the beech hangars; across ancient grassland and through valleys traversed by streams and small rivers. Emotion, physicality, sensuality and freedom all lie at the core of my making.

I am a fine artist whose path has trod to some degree ‘uncommon ground’.  Training, setting up a studio, exhibiting widely both here and in the US; then, my artistic course was interrupted by the requirements of work, family and single parenting. I had to accept a ‘fallow period’ while other, more pressing concerns, were addressed.  While for some this may have proved a negative interlude, for me I believe it ultimately enhanced my sensitivity and artistic awareness.

The knowledge that I was and artist remained very much alive throughout this period, and when the time came to return to ceramics, a rich body of work emerged. For the last five years I have conscientiously honed my skills, and now, at last, I am unveiling a new body of work.

Previously, working with porcelain, slip casting and throwing refined, fine pieces firing them to a high temperatures using electric and gas kilns. I was interested in pale celadon, white and off-white glazes and how light was refracted,  whilst exploring structural and spatial relationships.

Currently my passions have turned towards earth, fire, stone, natural pigments, human touch, and sensitivity in mark-making. I use a combination of ancient techniques, using natural materials, time-honoured practices: rhythmic marks, soft layers of coloured fine slips and a smokey infusion that lends to the originality of the surfaces I produce.