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View Image Gallery Alan Frewin(Full member)

Tel: +44 (0)1379 852556   Email:   Web: www.potteryonvideo.com  

Current Work

Traditional English slipware fired in both electric and gas kiln is the mainstay of my work. From this base point other techniques have been developed. Intricate paintings on pots and ceramic tiles using coloured slips often combined with the old slipware methods.
Blue and white tin glazed pottery using cobalt oxide is something else that I enjoy making. The pigment can be used like water colour paint giving subtle qualities to the decoration.
Majolica, painting with coloured glazes onto a white tin glaze gives wonderfully soft and gentle colours.
Slipware and tin glazed pie dishes, tart plates, mugs, jugs, salad bowls and a large and growing number of one off individual pots add variety to the standard ware that can be seen in the Millhouse shop.
Outside in the garden area are the garden pots. Bird baths, sundials, fountains and a range of pots varying in size up to eighteen inches in diameter. All my decorating techniques are used including base relief for the dragon pots.
I make the pots and my wife Ann takes care of the shop and outside display areas. Oh, and she takes good care of me as well.

Work generally available from:
Almost all my work is available only from Millhouse Pottery. I rarely exhibit. Why? Because I have never really enjoyed making pots with an exhibition in mind.

Technical Information

Kilns. I use two electric top loading electric kilns, each has placing area of 6.5 cubic feet. They are both designed and made by myself and have been in constant use for around forty years.
I designed and built my gas kiln in 1975 it is down draft and has a placing area of 120 cubic feet there are six Amal burners, three on each side. There are no electrics involved. Since all my pots are once fired I fire slowly up to 1160 centigrade in an oxidising atmosphere taking about fifty hours including a twelve hour warm up using just the pilot lights.
My clay is a ball clay from English China Clay Company. I mix this with grog, sand and red iron oxide in a large bakers dough mixer. I make up about three tons at a time. After mixing it is left for a minimum of three weeks to mature a little and then fed through a de-airing pug mill ready for use.
I make all my glazes, they are based on lead bisilicate frit and contain between 20 and 30% ball clay so that they can be applied to leather hard pots and will shrink with the pot as it dries and not scale off. All my glazes pass the rules governing lead based glazes.

History

1935 - Born, London.
1950 - Apprentice toolmaker.
1957-1959 - National Service, army
1960 - Started potting, part time with Peter Riffin
1965 - Started Nonsuch Pottery with Peter Riffin, Sutton Surrey.
1966 - The start of four years at the famous Briglin Pottery in the West End of London and four years teaching and lecturing.
1967 - Alan Frewin Studio Pottery, Sutton, Surrey.
1970 - Started Millhouse Pottery with Jeremy Kemp, Harleston, Norfolk.
1971 - Jeremy Kemp set up his own pottery in Germany.
2003 - Peter Riffin, sadly my good friend for fifty years died on 25th January aged sixty seven.

Although I had attended art school, part time at Sutton and Oxford and had gained a scholarship I was not able to take this up. Of all the subjects that were covered at art school pottery was not one of them. So together with Peter Riffin, we were fellow apprentices, we taught ourselves in the garden shed. After five years of trial and error we became self employed potters. And so the learning goes on and on and it's always interesting, thank God.
We have now produced a set of six DVD's that show the whole story. You will see it all, the history and the practice of making pottery.

Exhibitions

Some Past Exhibitions
Robin Nance. St Ives.
Craft Council, London. Ten Slipware Potters.
The Craftsman. Colchester.
Colchester Castle.
Chagford gallery.
Aldringham Craft Centre.

Recently
Pots made especially for P W Plants for their shows at The Chelsea Flower Show and at Hampton Court Flower Show. For more information on P W Plants please visit www.hardybamboo.com
New Buckenham Art Exhibition.
Fakenham Festival.
Harleston and Waveney Festival.

We do from time to time have groups such as The W.I. who come for an evening of demonstrations.

Books

Glazes for the Craft Potter. By Harry Frazer
Creative Pottery. By Peter Cosentino
Single Firing. By Fran Tristram
Mary Wondrausch on Slipware.

Profile Image

Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - home

View Image Gallery Selected Images

Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - Painted Plate - 9 inches. Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - Large Garden Pot
Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - Slipware Plate Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - Slipware Plate - 17 inches.
Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - Slip Painted Panel - 15 inches. Ceramics by Alan Frewin at Studiopottery.co.uk - Tin Glazed Plate - 17 inches.

Contact Details

Studio Address: Millhouse Pottery, 1 Station Road, Harleston, Norfolk, UK, IP20 9ES.
View in Google Maps

Telephone: +44 (0)1379 852556
Email:
Web-site: www.potteryonvideo.com

Availability: We are open every day excepting Christmas 10am to 5.30pm. We may occasionally close on a Monday or Tuesday. If you are making a special journey and would like to look around the workshop it is best that you phone first just to be sure.

Studio Location: Harleston lies nine miles from Diss and seven miles from Bungay. Millhouse Pottery is opposite the Duke William public house.

News: Alan is now semi-retired although he will still be be making a limited number of pots to sell in his own shop and will be making pots during the summer months.

Last Updated: 2008-04-04

Work styles:

Slipware
Mugs
Individual Pieces
Hand Painted Pottery
Glazes - Tin
Garden
Food Vessels
Earthenware
Domestic
Bowls
Tableware
Teapots
Terracotta
Thrown
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