James Campbell

Having trained as a potter, James Campbell had by the mid 1970s become part of the movement towards sculptural ceramics, in which Gordon Baldwin, who taught him at school, was a central figure. Slab built constructions of buildings, simplified representations of fortified habitations, may now seem far removed from his current work with its more romantic reflections on landscape. In fact it is possible to trace a continuous line in which the recent work develops ideas that had begun to be explored in these earlier pieces.

During a period in the early 1980s when he had no access to a workshop, he drew a great deal; landscape, architecture, people and birds. A move to a new house had the very practical result of reintroducing him to the domestic vessel. He moved from making the smaller domestic pieces to consider larger platters and bowls, and as a natural result of the time he had spent drawing, he applied his draughtsmanship and colour to these.

Selected exhibitions include:
The Stour Gallery
De Morgan Centre, London
Piers Feetham at Aldeburgh
Garter Lane Arts Centre, Waterford, Ireland
Eton College Drawing Schools
Victoria & Albert Museum, London
Yew Tree Gallery, Cornwall
Brewery Arts, Cirencester
West Wales Art Centre
Alpha House Gallery, Dorset

Public collections include:
Manchester City Art Gallery
National Gallery of Victoria, Melbourne, Australia
Tokoname Institute of Ceramic Art, Japan
Aberdeen Art Gallery
Dundee Art Gallery
National Library of Wales
National Museum and Gallery of Wales