Pieces shaped by hand,
fired with fingers crossed

About Me

Hello, I'm Ben Keenan

I began throwing in 2003 during a summer course at Ridge Pottery in Somerset. The course culminated in a wood firing with a keenly anticipated but apprehensive kiln opening the following day. From that moment I was hooked and continued to develop my throwing skills through a variety of carefully selected short courses and lots of practise in my small studio space located in Garway, close to the Welsh border.

The majority of my work is functional stoneware fired in reduction using gas or wood and decorated with a variety of slips, glazes and oxides. Commercial clay bodies are mixed with materials I processes myself such as clay dug locally as well as from further afield.

Wood ash collected from the house stove is a frequently used ingredient of my glazes. This and an inclination to experiment with firings, can lead to unpredictable and wide ranging results.

My work has been heavily inspired by growing up around pots produced by Muchelney Pottery which has drawn me towards the Leach tradition and its origins in Japanese and traditional folk pottery.

• Functional stoneware
• Reduction gas and wood firing
• Local & foraged materials
• Wood ash glazes