K e v i n  M i l l w a r d 

As with most potters I started my training at art school and then went on to work at a number of studios. These included Cooper's Pottery in Cheshire, producing domestic stoneware and porcelain. From there I moved on to the Gladstone Pottery Museum in early 1975 when it had a working studio producing terracotta domestic ware and garden ware which was sold all over the UK. It was while working here I had the privilege to be introduced to David Leach by a mutual friend who arranged for me to work with him for a short time. I have also met many other accomplished potters from all over the world who were very generous sharing their time and expertise. While working at the Gladstone I was approached by Harrison Mayer, now Potterycrafts, to be their craft advisor, helping potters, schools, colleges and small industry with making and technical problems as well as giving workshops and demonstrations all over the UK and Europe. This was great for me as I was able to work with some of the best in the world on the technical side of ceramics. It was about three years later that I left to set up my own studio in Leek, making stoneware and porcelain. and also started to do some part time teaching at my old college, which led to lecturing at some of the UK’s leading universities specialising in ceramics. The last two I taught at before the courses were closed were Bucks New University, High Wycombe and University of Westminster, Harrow. I would say that one of the unusual side affects of my potting is the amount of TV work it has brought my way, from children’s TV and light hearted game shows to serous documentaries and a cameo part in Coronation Street.  More recently I have been series consultant to The Great Pottery Throw Down.

"I have been potting now for over forty years and I am just starting to think I am getting somewhere,

  but that’s what attracts me to ceramics - constant creative, aesthetic and technical challenges to 

  keep you on the ball."