I became interested in making pottery whilst at school in the early 1980s, having had an inspirational ceramics teacher called Duncan Ellison. After attending art college in Manchester, and following a year as Artist in Residence at Stowe School, I spent some time working with the potter Andrew McGarva in France. On my return, I set up a small workshop near Wellingborough, where I worked for most of the 1990s.
I moved to the fens in 1997 and I work in a studio just outside Ely, where I have produced domestic pottery, house signs and sculptural work over the years. Currently I am concentrating on developing ‘raw’ stoneware glazes, using local fen clays.. Most of my current work is made, decorated and glazed before being ‘once-fired’ in a gas kiln.
I’ve also run evening classes for more than 30 years; firstly in Northamptonshire and Bedfordshire, and currently in Cambridgeshire.
I have taken part in Cambridge Open Studios as part of the Riverside Arts group in Little Ouse many times, though I will be taking a break from it in 2024.
Twitter: @crackingpots here
Instagram: peake_pottery here