Anthony Dix : Potter

Anthony Dix – Functional Soda Fired Ceramics

 Five years ago I returned to Cardiff for an MA in Ceramics, in order to refocus my work and develop a new range and identity, rekindling my passion for vapour-based firings. Over twenty years earlier I had on my BA in Cardiff worked with salt, but now developed surfaces through soda. This followed twenty years of teaching were my work took a back seat and without access to a salt or soda kiln most of my work tended to be thrown and hand built Raku pieces.

Following the MA I have returned to teaching in order to fund the further development of my work and have established a workshop with a soda kiln at the bottom of the garden that I share with my wife in Rugby, Warwickshire. I am gradually dedicating more time to my work and do at least two shows annually, as well as providing work for a number of galleries.

My work has always been concerned with thrown functional forms and I have always sought to innovate by an approach to throwing that is not limited by traditional thinking. I believe that I stretch the possibilities of form by combining soft thrown forms with various components allowing deformation to be a positive part of the composition of the pieces. In making my work I affect the clay in all its states from soft through to hard, making decisions regarding form when the clay is susceptible to change.

The soda firing is a continuation of the change to the forms controlled in the kiln with elements of chance. The kiln is relatively small which allows me to have greater control over surfaces and it has a short firing cycle of 7 hrs, following initial bisque firing and the application of slips and glazes. I am constantly changing elements of my work and always considering, what became the focus of my MA, the scale and proportion of my functional pieces.