Ceramics and 3D works
Frank Hamer
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| Renowned Welsh potter, Frank Hamer, has been playing with clay, glaze and fire for over 60 years and has been enthusiastically concentrating on plates for the past 16 years. The plates incorporate his interests in drawing, painting and decoration and he uses swimming fish for imagery almost exclusively. This is a small sample of current stock. Please contact us if you are seeking a particular fish. | |
SHUBUNKIN
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 SOLDIER FISH |
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STICKLEBACKS |
CONEY |
WELSH CHAR |
| Each plate is unique and carries Frank's studio stamp. The plates come ready to hang on the wall as ceramic art or they can be placed on a flat surface as a piece of sculpture. All the plates are made to be used, though they are not dishwasher safe. | |
| Whilst every effort is made to keep Frank's page up to date, his work is in constant demand and sometimes plates come in and never get to the web! If you are looking for a particular fish, please contact us and we can check what is available. | |
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Frank draws the fish on newspaper and cuts them out to create distinctive flat shapes. These are used to resist coloured slips to create the decoration. Some plates have as many as ten layers of slip brushed on to them and have other pigments applied before being glazed and reduction-fired to stoneware at 1250°C. Whilst fish can curve their bodies from side to side, they have restricted movement in flexing up and down as seen in a side view. Artists have always taken liberties with this up and down curve to give the impression of a swimming movement. Frank follows this precedent and also accentuates the proportions and emphasises details to establish character. The eyes especially are humanised, an anthropomorphic device used 3000 years ago in the Middle East. Fish plates have a long pedigree! Frank says that the plates should be read on four levels – as plates; as overall decorative objects; as specific imagery and last, but by no means least, as ceramic happenings. The plates can be either hung on the wall as decorative objects or used to serve food. Frank has had many exhibitions, both solo and group, and his work is highly regarded and extremely collectable. Consequently it is held in many prominent collections. Since leaving full-time pottery teaching Frank has concentrated on making pots, researching, writing and guest lecturing. Together with his wife Janet, he is the co-author of the ceramic world’s standard text – “The Potter’s Dictionary of Materials and Techniques” which is now in its fifth edition. See our Links page for more details. He has also co-written “Clays” for Pitman/Axner and contributes to industry publications such as ‘Ceramic Review’, Crefft/Craft and Shards magazine. |
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