Up the garden path

ABOVE the door to Andrea Cundell's workshop is a small sign: "Genius at work". That small gold rectangle tells us a lot about the York potter whose nature-inspired ceramics sell as far afield as Stirlingshire in Scotland and Kilkenny in Ireland.

A quick browse of her work is enough to confirm her talent, just as a brief spell in her company confirms her modesty.

Although Andrea has been working as a potter for more than 15 years - all the time from the garden shed of her childhood home in York, and selling at various stalls and markets across the city - she has shied away from self-promotion.

I met her by chance during a visit to the Fired Up ceramics exhibition at York Art Gallery, where she was hosting a hands-on workshop in clay. As my three-year-old enthusiastically rolled a lump of the brown stuff in her hands, my eye was caught by a small display of Andrea's work.

There were slim vases, in cream and black, some were textured with rough lines, others had delicate leaf motifs printed on them. When Andrea mentioned how she made them in her garden shed, which also hosted her kiln, I knew there was a story for the telling.

The trail led me literally up the garden path of Andrea's York semi, which she shares with mother Audrey, and straight to the shed at the bottom of her garden, home to her home-made potter's wheel and giant kiln.

"After college, I came back to York when I was about 21 wanting to set up my own pottery business," she explained. "But I couldn't find any suitable craft units so my dad suggested building a little workshop here, and I've been here ever since."

Over the years, Andrea's style has evolved.

"At first I started making lots of thrown work," she said, adding that she made the potter's wheel herself while at college, using a washing machine motor. When she switches it on, the sound is so familiar, it's the furious whiz of a laundry load in its last spin.

"Then I did lots of sea creatures and highly-decorated work in blues and yellows."

Although she used to sell at the Stonegate Arcade, she always had other jobs to help make a living.

"I've worked in kitchens, done washing up to make ends meet," said Andrea. She has also worked as a pottery tutor, formerly to special needs adults in Easingwold, and currently to pupils at the Mount School in York.

Andrea says that her new range of work, featuring simple, natural lines and colours, has been the most successful and has helped put her business on a more steady footing. Her work incorporates pebbles, twine, rough lines and dimple textures and she sticks to a simple palate of cream or black and pastel pinks, purples and greens.

"I keep my eye on basic fashion trends and look in shop windows and interior magazines to help keep my finger on the design pulse," she said. "I started to do trade shows in Harrogate and then got quite a few orders and repeat orders to keep me busy throughout the year."

Fans of Andrea's ceramics are spread across the country. Locally, her work is on sale at Porta Dextra Gallery, High Petergate, York and at York Art Gallery as well as the Driftwood Gallery, Finkle Street, Thirsk. Elsewhere, it's available in all corners of the country, from Cumbria to Northumberland; Gloucestershire to London.

Andrea is also a member of the Northern Potters group which has a permanent display at York Theatre Royal. As a member of the York Potters, she will be taking part in a sale and exhibition of work at the Tithe Barn, Nether Poppleton, York, on Saturday, November 26 and Sunday, November 27, from 10am to 4pm. Admission is free and the event will give ceramics lovers a chance to see the wares of local artists as well as the opportunity to buy gifts for Christmas. Jewellery, vases, sculptures, clocks, mugs and jugs, teapots and plant pots will be among the many items on show.

Andrea will also have a stall at the Made In Yorkshire Christmas Marquee in Parliament Street, York, from December 1 to 4 and again at the Christmas Open Air Art Exhibition in Coppergate, York, on Saturday, December 10.

Andrea said there was a growing interest and appreciation of ceramics.

To further her point, she indicates the current exhibition at York Art Gallery, which is displaying some 200 pieces of ceramics until January 15, and the fact that potter Grayson Perry won the Turner Prize in 2003.

Andrea said: "People are a lot more susceptible to ceramics today than they were ten years ago. For a long time, pottery was seen as a craft, but now it is recognised as an art form in its own right."

For special commissions or more information about Andrea's work, phone her on 01904 797631

Updated: 09:14 Tuesday, November 15, 2005