Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections

Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections Joanna Bird shows quality work from international contemporary ceramic, glass and conceptual artists.

Dynamic synergy contrasts ground breaking innovative work and the traditional. Joanna Bird, formally a potter herself, trained at Goldsmiths College and then with Michael Cardew in the 1970s. She spent several months working at Shebbear with Clive Bowen and Philip Leach before setting up her own workshop in Devon. When she married she moved to London and set up her own gallery (Joanna Bird Pottery

). She has established her reputation as a gallerist over the past eighteen years. Joanna shows ceramics internationally and has participated in many exhibitions in the UK and America. She works with potters on commissions, collaborates with museums and architects, advises on acquisitions and is at present working with a young artist developing a new ceramics gallery at Chatsworth. Joanna has lectured at the V&A Museum on Collecting Ceramics and is working on a series of lectures to be given in America. She recently curated an exhibition of Elizabeth Fritsch at the Fine Art Society in London, and is now curating a challenging exhibition at the Sir John Soane Museum, in which four artists; Christie Brown, Carina Ciscato, Nick Rena and Clare Twomey are invited to respond to the life and work of Sir John Soane. The touring exhibition, opening at the Sir John Soane Museum and moving on to Port Eliot and Pitzhanger Manor is funded by the Arts Council.

MEET THE MAKER | FRANCIS LLOYD-JONES | COLLECT 2026Perhaps Francis Lloyd-Jones refined his sensibility for rhythm and fo...
01/03/2026

MEET THE MAKER | FRANCIS LLOYD-JONES | COLLECT 2026

Perhaps Francis Lloyd-Jones refined his sensibility for rhythm and form during his training at Thomastown, Ireland, or as an apprentice to Lisa Hammond MBE. Likely it has its roots much earlier: his mother and grandfather werer both successful potters themselves. This early education, immersed in the language of objects, has given Francis’ work a subtle novelty that is at one recognisable and refreshingly new.

His work, domestic ware that is intended to embellish life, is often salt-glazed and reduction-fired, lending it a tender strength and a mellow depth that retains an air of mystery. His pieces reveal themselves slowly. They must be felt, held through a lifetime of use, to be understood and enjoyed thoroughly.

Francis currently works as the resident potter at the Farmers’ Arms in Cumbria. A subsidiary of Grisedale Arts, it has become an acclaimed and influential model for a new kind of art institution, underpinned by the philosophy that art should benefit the wider community.

Francis’ work is currently on show at our stand S10 at Collect Art Fair.

Some words I wrote about Gregory Warren Wilson’s work for at 2026.Collect is on until Sunday 1st March, so come and se...
28/02/2026

Some words I wrote about Gregory Warren Wilson’s work for at 2026.

Collect is on until Sunday 1st March, so come and see the work for yourselves!

A frame is often, by nature, marginal. It compliments, decorates and adorns, but rarely is it integral to the work of art within. Yet for Gregory Warren Wilson’s works in glass, his deep, bespoke frames are an essential and ubiquitous feature. Each frame serves as an arena, a theatre, in which the two vital qualities of glass, light and colour, can play and interact in novel ways. Layers of hand-cut glass, sometimes as many as six, are arranged so that the light penetrates and refracts in three dimensions, turning the two-dimensional nature of a framed image on its head. One can think of Gregory’s work as a sculpture, the frame an intrinsic part of its architecture.

Gregory is also an award-winning poet, having published six collections to date. Many of his pieces unfold from a fragment of poetry to become abstract, figurative works in their own right. What is striking about Gregory’s pieces is that they retain a narrative quality. Rhythmic yet asymmetrical, moving but still, they are a landscape in which the interplay of colour and light plays out like an event. Light and shade seem to dance as the eye travels, and the darkest colours often glow with the greatest intensity. It is this experience of perspective, of the subjectivity of light and colour, that Gregory wants us to think about. Can the subjective and objective ever be reconciled?

MEET THE MAKER | HALIMA CASSELL | COLLECT 2026Born in 1975 in Pakistan, Halima’s multicultural background is tangibly pr...
27/02/2026

MEET THE MAKER | HALIMA CASSELL | COLLECT 2026

Born in 1975 in Pakistan, Halima’s multicultural background is tangibly present in her work. A natural creativity presented itself at an early age and was nurtured to fruition through an undergraduate degree in 1997 and an MA in 2002. Since then, she was appointed an MBE in 2021 for Services to Art. She is also an Elected Fellow of the Royal British Society of Sculpture.

The culmination of this education is Halima’s precociously mature work. Fusing her Asian roots with a fascination for Mughal and African pattern work and a passion for architectural geometry, Halima’s work is intense yet playful, structured yet dynamic; substantial yet fluid and invariably compelling in its originality.

In Halima’s work she combines strong geometric elements with recurrent patterns and architectural principles, strong lines and dramatic angles. Halima concentrates on simple forms as the basis of her work in order to maximise the impact of the complex contours of the patterned surface.

Hattori Makiko (Born 1984) is a Japanese ceramic based in Gifu, Japan. She works in Seto porcelain, covering her forms w...
27/02/2026

Hattori Makiko (Born 1984) is a Japanese ceramic based in Gifu, Japan. She works in Seto porcelain, covering her forms with tens of thousands of minute porcelain ribbons to tightly fill the surface of the entire pot and its interior. This work is so fastidiously covered in clay that it take six months to effectively dry and as such Makiko produces only eight to ten works per year. She prefers to work in a meditative state on this repetitive procedure.

Makiko says this about her work:

I would be happy if the audience can immediately be drawn into the work before any other explanation because of the visual and tactile impact of the surface.
The work involves a repetitive process, nonetheless I never get tired with this Zen-like operation. I confront this long procedure with a very relaxed transcendent state of mind.

Come and enjoy the amazing array of artworks on show at Collect 2026. We look forward to seeing you at Stand S10 in the Portico Rooms.

MEET THE MAKER | MATTHEW WARNER | COLLECT 2026Matthew Warner completed his BA at Camberwell College of Art in 2010, befo...
26/02/2026

MEET THE MAKER | MATTHEW WARNER | COLLECT 2026

Matthew Warner completed his BA at Camberwell College of Art in 2010, before going on to study under Julian Stair as a QEST Scholar.

His work takes inspiration from the 18th-century potter Josiah Wedgwood, and seeks to explore how perceptions of status and luxury are reinforced through objects. He is particularly interested in the social connotations of pots throughout history, and in how they have been deployed to promote ideas of class, power, and even moral understanding.

‘Pots fascinate me because they embody and articulate so much information about society and culture. They are relics or signals of taste, social behaviour and cultural history. Their forms are incredibly diverse and at the same time carry a universal understanding. These everyday objects span social divides and convey very concentrated messages about their environment. I am particularly interested in the social connotations of these objects throughout history and more specifically how they have been deployed to promote ideas of class, power, and even moral understanding.’

MEET THE MAKER | ADAM BUICK | COLLECT 2026Adam Buick’s work focuses on perfecting the singular, universal foundation of ...
26/02/2026

MEET THE MAKER | ADAM BUICK | COLLECT 2026

Adam Buick’s work focuses on perfecting the singular, universal foundation of his practice, the Korean moon jar, the perfect symmetry of which denotes Confucian ideals of simplicity, humbleness and purity. Yet, for Adam, the moon jar form is not an end in itself, but rather a canvas, a world onto which he maps a deeply personal exploration of how humans make sense of the landscape in which they live.

For Adam, this landscape is the St David’s peninsula in his native Pembrokeshire, where he continues to live and work today. Having originally studied Archaeology, Adam is an innovator in incorporating locally sourced materials into his work, clay dug from the moors of Waun Llodi, sand and stone from the beach, even bone fragments. In this, each of Adam’s pieces is completely unique with its own history and geology. Adam has produced many installations in which his beloved landscape plays an active role in their creation, leaving pieces out on the beach and mountainside to be gently transformed by rain, mist and wind. The Welsh concept of Cynefin encapsulates this profound sense of physical, cultural and spiritual belonging.

Collect is on until Sunday 1st March, with Previews starting today!

Photo credit: .co.uk
Words: .of.hp

MEET THE MAKER | FLORIAN GADSBY | COLLECT 2026Florian Gadsby has studied under some of the household names of contempora...
25/02/2026

MEET THE MAKER | FLORIAN GADSBY | COLLECT 2026

Florian Gadsby has studied under some of the household names of contemporary ceramics. Having trained in Thomastown, Ireland, he later went on to apprentice under Lisa Hammond MBE at Maze Hill Pottery London, and under Ken Matsuzaki in Mashiko, Japan. Florian says this education in the Studio Pottery tradition taught him the discipline it takes to run a successful studio, often working over 80 hours over a six-day week.

An accomplished thrower, he specialises in making functional ceramics for daily use. His finely turned architectural style is exactingly precise and rigorously refined, resulting in light, angular forms of a quiet sensibility. He often complements his pieces with feldspathic, reduction-fired glazes which produce a soothing and rich crystalline effect.

Today, Florian innovatively documents his meticulous process online, and in doing so has garnered a following of millions and engaged a generation of new audiences in the question of what it means to be a craftsperson in the modern age. He recently published his first book, By My Hands: A Potter’s Apprenticeship.

Florian is part of a panel discussion, Bridging Craft to the Public, as part of this Friday 16:00. His installation, Still Life I, is on display at our stand S10 in the Portico Rooms.

Photo credit:
Words by .of.hp

The previews of Collect Art Fair 2026 opens today at and what a day for it! Come and enjoy the amazing array of artwork...
25/02/2026

The previews of Collect Art Fair 2026 opens today at and what a day for it!

Come and enjoy the amazing array of artworks on show in the glorious sunshine. We look forward to seeing you at Stand S10 in the Portico Rooms.

‘I like to tell a story - creating whimsical scenes that capture the insignificant yet precious moments that make up our...
08/12/2025

‘I like to tell a story - creating whimsical scenes that capture the insignificant yet precious moments that make up our daily lives’

Don’t miss Drawing as Seeing, our next artist talk with Helen Beard tomorrow! Helen will explore her unconventional route into ceramics, her developing practice, and how she observes and captures the poetry of the everyday with rare instinct and wit.

We look forward to seeing you there!

📆 Tuesday 9th December, 18:30 - 20:00

📍Joanna Bird Gallery, 19 Grove Park Terrace, W4 3QE

We are excited to welcome and to the gallery tonight for their sellout talk, Common Ground, Distinct Visions.If you mi...
25/11/2025

We are excited to welcome and to the gallery tonight for their sellout talk, Common Ground, Distinct Visions.

If you missed out on a ticket, both artists’ work is exhibiting in the gallery until 16th December, so be sure to visit between Tuesdays - Saturdays to experience their work in the flesh!

The current exhibition, A Time of Gifts, is also viewable virtually on our website under Virtual Exhibitions.

We look forward to seeing you!

Join us on Tuesday 25th November for a fascinating talk between ceramicists Florian Gadsby & Francis Lloyd-Jones. The ta...
10/11/2025

Join us on Tuesday 25th November for a fascinating talk between ceramicists Florian Gadsby & Francis Lloyd-Jones. The talk is part of our upcoming exhibition, A Time of Gifts, which opens next week!

Having both trained in Thomastown, Ireland, and apprenticed under Lisa Hammond MBE at Maze Hill Pottery, Florian and Francis have both learned thoroughly how to throw with efficiency and skill, each striving for sensibility and functionality in their work.

Tickets are available via the link in our bio and include drinks and canapés. The work of both artists will be available in the exhibition - we look forward to seeing you there!



📍Joanna Bird Gallery, 19 Grove Park Terrace, Chiswick, London, W4 3QE
📆 Tuesday 25th November, 6:30pm - 8.00pm

Join us at Joanna Bird Gallery for our ‘A Time of Gifts’ exhibition from November 19th - December 16th.From ceramics to ...
06/11/2025

Join us at Joanna Bird Gallery for our ‘A Time of Gifts’ exhibition from November 19th - December 16th.

From ceramics to glass, this winter exhibition is a celebration of the gifted hands whose work embodies the pleasure of giving. Save the date and share with art enthusiasts - don’t miss this enchanting exhibition!

Pictured here is: Pair of Angular Bowls by

📍 Joanna Bird Gallery, 19 Grove Park Terrace, Chiswick, W4 3QE
📆 19th November - 16th December 2025
⏰ Tuesday - Saturday, 10.00am - 5.00pm, and by appointment



Address

19 Grove Park Terrace
London
W43QE

Telephone

+442089959960

Website

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Joanna Bird Contemporary Collections posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Shortcuts

Share

Category