Rodney Lawrence (born 1950) studied at the University of East Anglia before attending Harrow School of Art and then working with David Leach. In 1976 he established a workshop in Somerset with the potter Elizabeth Raeburn. Here he has produced a range of domestic stoneware and individual items, and he is particularly known for his figurative decoration in sgraffito, full of the potter's humour and warmth.
This work has overtones of narrative Renaissance Italian and Spanish pottery and the whimsy of early Staffordshire flatbacks, while his fluently trailed pieces recall the energy of the slipware tradition. Lawrence is a perceptive commentator on modern life and one of the most humane of contemporary makers.
David Whiting |
