About Elaine Sheppard Bolt

I am a ceramic artist specialising in sculptural work in clay and mixed media, creating works and compositions guided by a sense of narrative and steeped in the context of my local surroundings. My work includes sculptural pieces, hand-built wall pieces and thrown vessels, made in porcelain and stoneware with mixed-media.

I use techniques such as throwing and handbuilding, colouring clays, layering slips and glazes and including found objects to create collections and compositions that work together to suggest a story or explore an idea or memory. My current work focuses on playful narrative pieces investigating the spaces where nature and human activity meet, and the ways in which they alter each other. The collections invite the viewer to connect with the work, bringing their own meanings or ideas to the forms.

Every piece I make is different and my ideas are constantly evolving. I value individuality and integrity in my work, putting care and a sense of personality into each one.

I work and teach from my studio on Ditchling Common in Sussex.

I have an MA in Ceramics from UCA Farnham and am an alumni of the Crafts Council’s Hothouse talent development programme. I have worked as a Lecturer on the BA Ceramics course at the University of Brighton as a short course tutor at West Dean College and Forest Row School of Ceramics alongside developing my practice at my studio in Sussex.

My work is held in private collections and has been exhibited nationally and internationally, in galleries and at specialist craft events including at Collect and Ceramic Art London.

I have run projects funded by Arts Council England, and been awarded grants by a-n and by the Quenington Sculpture Trust. My work has been featured in a number of publications including: Ceramic Review  (Jan/Feb 2020 issue 301), Coast magazine, Oh Comely magazine, Country Living: Modern Rustic; and in the books ‘Surface Decoration for Ceramics’ by Claire Ireland, and ‘Design & Create Contemporary Tableware’ by Sue Pryke and Linda Bloomfield. I have written articles for a number of publications including Ceramic Review magazine.

Email: elaine@elainesheppardbolt.com

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You can currently find my work at these galleries:

Flow Gallery, London

Gallery 57, Arundel

See the article on my work in Ceramic Review: