Staffordshire artist Paul Gooderham hones passion for pottery

Everywhere you look there is something fascinating and beautiful to admire – from giant yet intricate boats to delightful scruffy dogs modelled on his own canine best friend – a three-year-old greyhound deerhound cross named Ted.

Stunning wall hangings and decorative water features are among the many other creative items adorning the shelves and walls, which have been hand-crafted by the 66-year-old.

His studios and showroom have been based in a former Victorian church in the village of Gailey, Staffordshire, since 1980.

The building, which dates back to 1849, makes for an unusual but memorable setting for a working pottery where visitors are free to browse and watch Paul at work.

What used to be the church's vestry and chancel has been sensitively restored into the studio's showroom.

"When I bought the building, it was just a shell. All of the fittings like the pews had been removed and even the light bulbs had been taken out.

"So we set about converting it but without losing any of its character and it's been fabulous over the years.

"There's a lovely feel to the building. It's important to me that it's one of those places where people can come and look what's here without feeling under pressure to buy anything," explains Paul, who started honing his skills at Wolverhampton Art College.

After four years of study, he realised he wanted to pursue his love of ceramics and his first studio was based in Birmingham's Jewellery Quarter in early 1976.

A successful start led to him quickly outgrowing his studio space prompting him to move to Gailey and he's never looked back.

During the decades that followed he tried his hand at producing for the commercial market with items made in Staffordshire being exported to Australia, America and the Far East.

But after much success he decided to 'go back to how it started' and is now helping to keep this traditional art alive as a studio potter.

"The definition of a studio potter is a potter who makes and sells their work on their premises.

"There used to be lots of studio potters across the country but nowadays there are far fewer.

"Before we had these large shopping malls and the attraction of buying everything under one roof, more people might stop at a studio when they saw one. But times have changed.

"I'm lucky because there is still a lot of interest in what I'm producing," says Paul, who has previously shared his passion for clay with younger generations during visits to schools.

As well as his own work, visitors to the showroom will also be able to view a selection of traditional and contemporary ceramics chosen from a broad range of practising potters all working in Britain.

There is also a display of 'retro' ceramics, showcasing the work of potteries no longer trading which spans several decades.

Paul works in stoneware and porcelain using wood ash glazes prepared at the studio and fired to 1,280C in the gas kiln.

Some of his pieces are inspired by Britain's coast and waterways while others feature his dog Ted as well as an array of other animals.

"I go through themes and at the moment it's a coastal theme.

"Us Brits are an island race and everyone likes the coast especially as it's often said that we are never further than 70-something miles from the sea wherever we are in Britain.

"People like going on holiday to the coast and having reminders of their time there. I go to the coast to take photographs, whether it's seagulls, rock pools or unusual sticks poking out of the sand. There's plenty of inspiration to be found," explains Paul, who is also an accomplished musician, playing in the band he co-formed called Remnants.

He also uses his pet as a model as long as he can get him to stay in one place for long enough!

"Ted is a crazy dog but if I can get him to sit still for long enough then he models for me.

"All of the animal pieces are very successful," he says.

He specialises in 'hand-building' which is working with clay by hand using only simple tools.

His larger pieces can involve up to 20 hours of work depending on the intricacy of the design and the number of pieces.

For example his boats include seagulls and each one has to be crafted, fired and glazed separately before being fitted to the main piece.

During his career so far he has estimated that he has made more than 250,000 pieces which includes sales to shops, galleries and exhibitions in the UK as well as worldwide.

Hand-building with the clay enables him to be more creative and, for Wolverhampton-born Paul, seeing his work come to life is the best part of the job.

"I enjoy the construction and making process because this is where I get to design the piece.

"The firing and glazing are necessary processes to turn them into ceramics but for me it's making them out of clay that's more enjoyable.

"It's a bit like how a carpenter will spend hours creating something out of wood but then they may leave the varnishing to someone else because for them the enjoyable part is over once they've had the satisfaction of finishing the construction.

"Glazing is still important though. There's an old saying that you can ruin a good pot with a bad glaze but a good glaze will not save a bad pot," explains Paul.

"Now I don't have the pressure to produce in such large quantities I have more time to spend on the creative side.

"After 40 years, my career has been through a lot of stages but now I have more freedom to produce what I want to produce and also what the customers like too," he adds with a smile.

Gailey Pottery is based at Old Church Studios in Watling Street, Gailey. For opening times visit

www.gaileypottery.co.uk

Heather Large