| tom butcher
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Stoneware |
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Sculpted |
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Gas-fired |
Various forms of living and natural matter inspire Tom Butcher’s work. The sculptural forms he creates represent an abstracted interpretation of research into organic growth and forms: from the architecture of insects to gneiss rock found on the North West Coast of Scotland. Tom employs several innovative processes to produce pieces of varying proportion and fragility, in an effort to push the boundaries of traditional ceramic making techniques.
Tom’s studio is on the shores of Loch Long, Scotland, surrounded by the inspirational scenery of the Loch Lomond and the Trossachs National Park.
In his range of ‘Convoluted Bowls’, Tom uses a variety of clay bodies and base materials to produce a number of textures and finishes, from the purity and delicate nature of porcelain and bone china, to the gritty coarseness of heavily grogged crank and t-material. He has taken the textural, linear qualities of wool, rope and twines, and used them to describe the surface of his forms. Tom has also experimented with the inherent colours of various clays to produce a series of tonal monochromatic pieces. The colours used are fundamentally derived from those found in nature.
The ‘Monolith’ range was initially inspired by the architecture of , as well as gneiss – a granite-like rock specific to the coast of Sutherland, Scotland. Tom has refined and abstracted these forms to create subtle and delicate monolithic objects. The ‘monlithic’ pieces are hand built using a variety of stoneware clays and porcelain, hand polished or glazed , and reduction fired.
Other photographs: reduction fired monolith, set of three convoluted crank bowls
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