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Welcome to the website of Jen and Peter Colquitt
Based in Dudley, West Midlands, Jennifer and Peter Colquitt both had exciting teaching careers, Jennifer was a Senior Lecturer for several years in the Three Dimensional Design Department based at the Faculty of Art and Design in Birmingham City University. Peter taught in Dudley, first at The Bishop Milner School and then as Head of Art in the King Edward V1 Sixth Form College, Stourbridge. Both always continued their work with clay during their teaching, their individual styles are very different.
Jennifer concentrates on making finely decorated and textured porcelain panels coloured with oxides and lustres. The themes used are trees, leaves and flowers derived from either direct observation or discovered in medieval manuscripts. The variations are endless with these topics. Visiting France on a regular basis has given her the opportunity to study carvings observed in the Romanesque churches which are a rich source of decorative devices.
Peter has always centred his sculptural work round the study of the human form, this work being supported by intensive drawing studies and print making - the latter invariably being Lino Print as it is very direct and immediate. A heavily grogged clay has always been his preferred material for realising his sculptural vision. His visits to France has provided him with new directions drawn from the landscape.
back again
22/12/10
Yes I am back after a long absence, not intentional but sometimes events conspired against me. It has been a very busy year matched with health difficulties. I had a Hip operation on the 2nd December and to date am making a very good recovery. I managed to get a lot of orders completed before the op, in fact this has been my busiest year ever.
In late June I was in "Earth and Fire" at Rufford, it was a case of combining business with pleasure, it's a lovely event to be in, I made good contacts there. We had good local accommodation in Edwinstowe - Marion's Manor + there is a v good restaurant nearby. This year I accepted a work experience student - my youngest grandson Dion. He appeared immediately on my return to my studio after Rufford. His first task was to sort my display equipment and put them away, taking notes of smaller items such as sellotape etc which is stored inside them. He did work hard and listened to what I had to say. he attends the Thorns Community College in Quarry Bank. There is a good Art Dept there with Kilns which are in regular use. This is such a rarity these days so Dion knows about using clay.
resume of 2010
23/12/10
Back to Dion and his work placement - He had a good look round the studio and in the kilns and checked out the Health and Safety aspects. Each day he arrived on time and would check his claywork He used a stoneware clay to model faces (this kept him occupied!)He had to sort out his boards and modelling tools, investigated a polymer equivilent to make buttons, this was easier said than done. He drew designs on glazed tiles and made some pocelain brooches - we worked side by side. At lunchtime we would stop, tidy up and have tea and sandwiches. Dion is particular about tea and brought his own teabags....
Each day we went for a walk round Dudley to discover many items of interest. There are surprises - Dudley Police Station with the carved doors and sculptures of Policemen sculpted by Alan Bridgwater, just round the corner is the former Bluecoat school which still has 2 figures above the 2 entrances. Later we went round Dudley Art Gallery to see the Brooke Robinson collection, it's small but has many items of interest. He looked at a marble sculpture and marvelled at the skilful carving technique. We had a look at the bronze figurative Sculpture by William Bloye in the park near the Council House. Dion was fascinated by its colour - so a cue there to talk about patinas. The last visit was to Dudley Library to see a presentation of a Montage made to celebrate the Library's centenary. This was excellent for him as he heard the artist discuss the research required for this project and what had to be left out.
We would return to the studio and continue work. Obviously his work was not fired in the same week and was done later to fit in with my firings. While we were in the Library I had noticed 2 good showcases there and later booked them for November. I discussed the display with him and duly arranged our work. I had put information about the work placement in with the work.
Dion worked hard on this placement, a new experience for both of us! He enjoys his art lessons at school but these are much shorter than working all day with Grandma - thats why I decided on the walks around Dudley
resume of 2010
28/12/10
Much to my chagrin, one of Dions sculptures did not fire well. I had impressed on him the value of photographing work through various processes - so at least there is a record. We had a joint exhibition in Dudley library in November. this came about when we went to the presentation in Library - I noticed 2 good showcases and booked them.
We returned from holiday mid September and worked flat out for several exhibitions. I sent work to Focus Gallery Nottingham, had work exhibited in the Bevere Gallery, Worcs Patchings Art Centre,Notts, Nature in Art, Glos. Contemporary Ceramics, London and did one event - "Gorgeous" at Ironbridge Then a short stay in Russells Hall Hospital sorting my right hip out, I am already walking so much better. Could do without the current weather conditions though - it's slowing down my walking.
I heard recently I have been accepted for "Earth and Fire" 2011. I sent the info v late for me as for some reason I could not get a disc printed and was not far off chewing nails.
Will be back soon - by then I hope to have started working in the studio again. Best wishes for the New year
added text
15/03/10I have been working nonstop to complete work before Easter, the Lustre firings have worked well, I have almost completed the order for the heart decorations, just have to buy the ribbon. Then I need to select work and post it to the Bevere Gallery near Kidderminster for the Midlands Potters Exhibition in April and then later this week collect work from the Lighthouse Art Centre, Wolverhampton. The studio is having a spring clean this week as I may have a work Experience student at the end of June. This is turning out to be a double edged sword. I have to have a Public Liability Insurance Policy - I have one, but not the right sort, I will have to buy a top up Policy. I don't mind doing that but the Studio will have to be vetted and I would not like to buy the extra Policy and then be turned down. Why is life so awkward???
back again
11/10/10I have been very productive in the last few days. I painted colour onto panels, decorations and brooches on the 28th and left them overnight to dry. 1st March checked the panels etc removed surplus colour and loaded the kiln, it was filled exactly with nothing left over, which is unusual, I like packing kilns and making sure every shelf is full. This is straightforward for me as I can always fill spaces with brooches. Kiln switched on in the evening. 2nd March checked kiln and started to finish making buttons, ditto for the 3rd March, the clay was just right. Today the 4th March I opened the kiln (I had peeped before -all was well) and unpacked, a very good firing the lustres should work well. I sorted out the lustres and brushes (the latter v small sizes) and started painting. I always start with green, then purple, various pale blues, yellow and end with copper, gold and platignum. After I use one specific colour I put it away as most of the lustres are brown, it is v v easy to make mistakes here. The painting will take a few days to complete
| Date: | Event: |
| February - March | "Ceramics Collection", The Art Works Galleries, Newcastle-upon-Tyne |
| June 26th - 28th | "Earth and Fire", Rufford, Nottinghamshire |
| July 19th - 25th | Exhibition with "The Choral Experience", Abbey Dore, Herefordshire |
| July 21st - September 21st | Showcase Exhibition, Worcester Art Gallery |
| July 29th - September 5th | Royal Birmingham Society of Artists Open Ceramics, Birmingham |
| October 9th -11th | "Gorgeous", Ironbridge |
| October 31st - November 1st | The Oxford Ceramics Fair, King Edwards School, Oxford |
| November 21st - 22nd | "Art in Clay", The Maltings, Farnham, Surrey |
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