About Ben

I spent my formative years in a small, old-fashioned maritime village in Essex. The surroundings and characters that inhabited them seemed to be a magical enchanted land which has had an influence as an artist. At sixteen I was accepted to go to art school but my parents would not allow this, so I went to sea and spent several years on ships and barges. I also took the opportunity to sail across the Atlantic in a small yacht. Eventually I went on to qualify as a merchant navy mate but never went to sea again. Instead I went to Tunisia to rig Spanish galleons for a Roman Polanski movie.

After this I found myself in Cumbria working for a cattle dealer. Somehow this evolved into antique dealing where I discovered a love of ceramics. However things didn’t go to plan and I became quite disillusioned with the worldly life and became a Buddhist monk for several years.

Through various twists and turns I eventually fulfilled my lifelong dream at the age of forty-two and enrolled at the Cumbria Institute of the Arts to study ceramics and textiles, soon followed by obtaining a foundation degree in ceramics at Newcastle College. From there I went to a prestigious institution to study an MA but I didn’t enjoy it and found that it stifled creativity. I soon left and returned to Cumbria to make wood fired ceramics and slipware part time whilst working as a builder and maintaining family life.

Over the last ten years my interest in ceramics has evolved from wood fired domestic-ware to figurative sculpture which I now make from my studio in Leicestershire and show nationally through a variety of ceramic fairs and exhibitions across the country.

Throughout my life I have never lost sight of my inner child and my formative years. My intention is to create a poetic interaction with the materials, a conversation with clay expressing my inner child informed by my life experience. Where is it going? I have no idea. Following a trail of rationale that isn’t necessarily rational, to reconnect with the magical enchantment experienced as a child.

People say my work makes them smile and that’s good enough for me.