Lindy Barletta
Lindy first experimented with clay when she was 11 years old and fell in love with it, however throughout her further education and early career Lindy studied at Hereford College of Art and specialised in textile design, she later went on to have a career in management at the Chelsea Arts Club for a period of time before she moved onto a second career in Interior Design specialising in putting colour schemes and pattern together; its her keen eye for design that helps her with her successful ceramic designs.
It was only years later that Lindy decided she wanted to get back into pottery and started her ceramic journey.
There are a lot of designs you can create using the techniques of ceramics and pottery, Lindy specialises in making unique and individual teapots, bowls and plates decorating them using layers of oxides, slip with sgraffito and multiple layers of stoneware glazes. Glazes are strong and beautiful colours which get used to decorate ceramic work, glazes come in all different colours and finishes and are something you can continuously experiment with. Lindy
has written about her love for ceramics in which she talks about when she works with clay, she responds to the clay with every sensitivity and how it responded to her with every touch and every changing shape. She talks about the process of making her pieces and how she can instantly know when she starts whether the piece will be successful for whether she will have to start again. Because of her love for ceramic she went on to study City and guilds Ceramics Level 3,
City and Guilds Glaze and Firing Level 3 and later opened her own workshop in 2002 called sheen pottery where she works and creates her ceramic pieces.
Lindy has also won awards for her ceramic work including
December 2012 – Best Functional Piece for a large Teapot with slip and sgraffito decoration at London Potters Exhibition.
December 2011 - 'Highly Commended' for teapot exhibited at the London Potters Morley Gallery Exhibition
She is currently offering ceramic workshops at sheen pottery 4 times a week allowing beginners and experienced students, teaching a wide range of ceramic techniques.
In my experience, when creating a piece of ceramics the ability to manipulate the clay into whatever form you want can turn into an obsession where you cant stop changing the clay until you feel it is perfect. Sometimes you can go too far and loose yourself which leads you away from your original design.
Photos of Lindy's work below
To create plates, especially if you are producing more than one of the same plate, you can use a technique called casting which is where you create a cast which you can use over and over again and will form the clay into the same shape, size and design the only part left is to fire and glaze the piece. I think that one of the most important factors when creating a successful and unique piece of pottery is the glazing. I feel that the glazing is what brings a piece to life and gives the piece the artists personal touch. The variety of glazes are endless and you can mix them to create whatever design you like, continuing to develop and create new effects.
