COAST CHARACTER

Abstract ceramicist and sculptor, Sandy Brown, has pieces in museums around the world, yet her creativity is fed by the coastal village of Appledore

Sandy Brown, Appledore, Devon

Imoved to Appledore in Devon in 1994, although I had visited many times when on family holidays at nearby Instow. The very first art gallery I ever visited was as a child when my uncle took me to The Burton in Bideford, three miles away, and I fell in love with huge, full-bellied harvest jugs, emblazoned with free drawings. As an adult I grew to love Appledore for its shipbuilding heritage. There were many shipyards, making everything from huge oceangoing tankers to small salmon boats.

Appledore is on the estuary formed by the meeting of the Rivers Taw and Torridge. The light is wonderful for artists working in any medium. The estuary acts as a mirror, reflecting light upwards, and the colours in my ceramics are noticeably stronger here. I use Appledore mud from the banks of the estuary as a rich slipglaze. The finest river silt is right outside my house and I brush it on my sculptures when I want an earthy brown patina.

I was lucky to find a wonderful building for my studio, originally part of Richmond Dock, a shipbuilding yard opposite. It has very high ceilings enabling sails to be built, and facilitates larger work, such as Temple, commissioned by Sotheby’s in 2015 for its ‘Beyond Limits’ exhibition at Chatsworth House. This area was also where some of the best traditional pots in Britain were made. Harvest jugs were created using local red earthenware clay, and decorated with a local white clay using the sgrafitto method of incising patterns.

I keep fit by open-sea pilot gig boatrowing with a crew of six, plus a cox. It’s a great way to exercise, and is a rapidly growing sport. Traditionally, pilot gigs rowed out to returning Atlantic cargo schooners and had to be fast as the first pilot to reach a schooner got the business of piloting and often handled the cargo too.

Find out where to see Sandy’s work at

sandybrownarts.com. She also runs a highly recommended creativity course from time to time.