STUART CAREY
Stuart Carey is originally from Newcastle and now lives and works in London. He has always been creative and by chance at the age of fourteen was given the opportunity to pursue ceramics instead of the standard arts program, his teacher Glyn Thomas, being head of the art department, had carved out space for clay, he was an inspiration and opened up ways of thinking through material that unlocked something Stuart had been trying to find in himself. His education saw him through 4 years of ceramics at school on into a BA at the Glasgow School of art and directly into an MA at the Royal College. These ten years of training were highly unusual for a man of his age and set him in good stead to enter the world of artistic practise at pace.
Stuart became well known for his elegant tableware collection launched on graduating from the Royal College of Art, a collection that gained a strong international reputation and achieved two designer of the year awards. After seven years of production Stuart stepped away from making regularly for himself to pursue his passion for education, establishing the UK's first open access ceramics studios. He can now be found most days at The Kiln Rooms studios in London, which he founded and co owns with his business partner Ben Cooper. The studios have opened up avenues for thousands of people to clay and has been an inspiration in the market with more than twenty similar studios opening around the UK since he began. Stuart is extremely proud of this, that a new generation of ceramicists is being born from a material that not so long ago was on the bottom rung of the arts ladder. Not satisfied to leave it there Stuart continues to push forward the message of the benefits of clay, taking on an associate lecturer position with Central st Martins, and a senior consultant role on channel 4's The Great Pottery Throw Down. Stuart feels a duty to help shape the regeneration of interest in his material and to ensure its success and longevity.
He is also passionate about passing on the skills he sees as gifts he has been given, this can be seen in his book 'From Clay to Kiln' which aims to connect with readers of any level, demystifying aspects of clay and engaging a wide audience. However, as with all good teachers, Stuart believes in leading by example, and although over the last several years he has continued to make for specific commissions and collaborations, he believes now is the time to be at the forefront once more, to put objects into the world again under his own name and with his own vision. And so was born 'Return to form' a body of new works which he hopes will complete a circle of over twenty years of practice and begin a new chapter in his career.
