Gallery #1: Contemporary Ceramics Centre

     For one of the three additional galleries, I went to the Contemporary Ceramics Centre.  This small but crowded venue was located close by to our flat and was filled with a variety of ceramics pieces ranging in sizes and styles.  The works were all on sale to purchase and many people were buying vases and bowls and other "British studio pottery'" on display.  The gallery itself was composed of two rooms with the works on display in white showcases mounted along the walls.  There were beautiful wood-fired cups glazed with brown and white by Akiko Hirai and Lisa Hammond.  I have yet to wood-fire anything in ceramics and I thought the effect was different but pretty from what I have previously seen and done.  However, I was immediately drawn to the unique pieces of Gareth Mason, which were on display in the back room of the gallery.  He was the maker of the largest pot in the place, priced at 5,800 pounds!  It was quite interesting to look at; it had a rugged look to it that was appealing compared to the smooth glazed pots by other artists.  There was a mixture of glazes of red, white and brown earthy colors over the structure and what appeared to be a brown clay busting out of the sides and breaking the evenness of the surface.  Gareth Mason also had two smaller vases on display in pale red and blue tones that were constructed in the same way.  His works were my favorite in the gallery because of the size and unique style in which they were made.