Peter Hayes Fellow CPA

Peter Hayes - Bow: red with green disk
Peter Hayes - Female Figure
Peter Hayes - Female Torso
Peter Hayes - Large Bottle Pot
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Peter Hayes is one of the leading exponents of his art and his sculptural ceramics have earned him recognition as a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association (CPA).

Peter's ceramics are heavily influenced by his extensive travels to Southern Africa, India, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Egypt and Western Europe, as well as found objects which he first started collecting as a boy, and the Cornish landscape - where his artistic career first began. Throughout his travels he has worked with indigenous craftsmen, learning from their age-old techniques, often using the most basic materials and tools.

Peter's sculptures are primarily concerned with the opposites of rough and smooth which he creates by building up layers of textured clay and then burnishing and polishing the surfaces. Weathering is an integral part of the process which he does by tethering and submerging his work in the River Avon in Bath, where he has had his studio - a converted toll bridge lodge - since 1985. The river salts help to oxidise the copper in the clay and transform the finished pieces with surfaces of blue/green, verdigre and red ferric. The work which emerges is entirely unique, vibrating with life and enthusiasm - a reflection of Peter's own character.

Peter Hayes exhibits widely throughout the UK and his work is regulary featured at Ceramic Art London (Royal College of Art). His work is in major public and private collections throughout the world, including the Scottish National Gallery, Edinburgh; the Museum of Modern Art, Kingston Jamaica; the Gardner Collection, Toronto; the Museum of Modern Art, Brussels, Belgium; the Siber Collection, California, USA; and the JB Speed Museum, Louisville, KY. He has also undertaken numerous public and private commissions.

Education and employment:

1960 - 1967 Moseley School of Art & Craft, Birmingham and Birmingham College of Art.

1972 - 1978 Craft Advisor, Economical Development for Equatorial and Southern Africa.

1979 - 1982 Production Development Advisor, Commonwealth Secretariat, Lesotho, SA.

1984 Advisor Development of Ceramics, Commonwealth Fund for the Technical Cooperation, Nepal, India, Japan and South Korea.

1985 - 1987 Craft Advisor, South West Arts.