Smoke Fired Pots by Frances Marr

Left to right:
Frances Marr, Asymmetrical Vessel, 2023, Hand built ceramic with coloured slip, burnished and smoke fired, 18 x 23 x 19 cm
Frances Marr, Vessel, 2023, Hand built ceramic with coloured slip, burnished and smoke fired, 32.5 x 28 x 26 cm
Frances Marr, Leaning Vessel II, 2023, Hand built with blue slip and burnished, 10 x 10 x 20 cm

Visit the New Art Centre, Roche Court Sculpture Park this weekend to see an outstanding collection of 12 new smoke fired pots by Frances Marr. Ceramic vessels and forms are placed alongside iridescent late paintings by Mary Potter as part of our current exhibition; Mary Potter: A Transformative Vision, which will continue throughout September in our Stable Gallery and Artists House.

Frances Marr’s work is often influenced by environment. She uses a diverse range of materials and techniques like hand building, smoke firing and ‘barrel’ firing. The sealed surface has no glaze, and the elemental process of smoke firing leaves carbonised shadows that emulate the foreboding mists and dramatic dark skies of the UK coast and the open landscapes of Cumbria. Based in Wiltshire, Frances Marr started making ceramics in 2005. She has exhibited widely across the UK since, including at the Contemporary Ceramics Fair at the Hepworth Wakefield in 2019, and most recently in Precarious at the RSPB Gallery, Geltsdale Nature Reserve, Cumbria, in 2023.

Mary Potter (1900 – 1981) was well known for her landscapes and still life paintings. She studied at the Slade School of Fine Art from 1918-21, and in 1951 moved to Aldeburgh where her work became increasingly abstract. In 1967, Mary Potter had her first exhibition with the New Art Centre, having been introduced to the gallery by Lord Clark. Twelve further solo exhibitions at the New Art Centre followed during her lifetime, widening her audience to such an extent that her final exhibition, in 1981, organised by the Arts Council at the Serpentine Gallery, was a signal of her success. Close to 25,000 people visited the exhibition, and many can remember it still.

Frances Marr, Closed Form II, 2024, Hand built ceramic with coloured slip, burnished and smoke fired, 14 x 23.5 x 20 cm
Frances Marr, Closed Form I, 2024, Hand built ceramic with coloured slip, burnished and smoke fired, 20 x 22 x 19 cm

Mary Potter, Bay Leaves, 1975, Oil on canvas, 76 x 56 cm
Frances Marr, Circular Form IV, 2019, Hand built ceramic with coloured slip, burnished and smoke fired, 5.5 x 26.5 x 26.5 cm
Frances Marr, Edge II, 2024, Hand built ceramic with coloured slip, burnished and smoke fired, 25 x 32.5 x 25 cm
Mary Potter, Blue Flower, 1978, Oil on canvas, 51 x 76.3 cm