Sebastian Blackie would fit into both Michael Cardew’s definitions of the clay artist, being both a ‘mud and water’ and ‘fire' potter. He is very much concerned with process; it is not simply about the finished object. The making and firing are integral to the meaning and consideration of a piece, their physical qualities brought out in the expressive and gestural nature of his hand-building and alteration, in the flame-affected surfaces of his pieces.

Born in 1949, Blackie studied at Farnham and Goldsmiths’, and now teaches at the University of Derby. His work, its ‘vocabulary of form’ as he calls it is eclectic, and has been influenced by a wide range of influences, from the archaeology of the earliest vessels to tribal pots, and the aesthetics of traditional Japanese kilns. His work has ranged from urn-type forms with classical flourishes to the simplest cylinders, all imprinted with the processes in which he revels, all submitted to his continual experimentations with flame. He has written very perceptively about his artistic philosophy.

David Whiting