Visit to Richard Godfrey’s studio

Luckily, the snow had thawed in time for my visit to Richard Godfrey’s studio in late December. John Pollex, who shared a studio on Plymouth’s Barbican with Richard in the early 1970’s, guided me through the narrow back lanes of the south Devon countryside. Although this was my second visit I couldn’t help but envy the views from his studio of rolling green countryside and the blue of the English Channel on the horizon.

Richard was on great form and the three of us chatted for a couple of hours about his work. I recorded a video interview with Richard explaining why he chose to work with the materials he uses, how he came about his shapes and why he used such bright colours. The video will be edited and available to view at Online Ceramics in March when Richard will become the featured artist.

Richard Godfrey holding Rocket Dogfish

After I had concluded my interview, I recorded a discussion between the two old friends where they discussed, amongst other things, their influences and their views on the world of contemporary ceramics and the antics they got up to whilst working together. As you can imagine there will need to be a few cuts – but when John posts the video I will publish the link.

I also picked new pieces to add to the website. I was particularly pleased to have a ‘Rocket Dogfish’ teapot that I watched Richard make in last summer.