Being British means that tea is a big part of life. It’s a rule. Thus teapots and cups are important in Clive’s artistic life.
Though Clive makes “regular” teapots, he has become known for his extraordinary teapots and cups. It all began when he bought a box of commercial moulds which he reworked and juxtaposed with the classically thrown teapots and cups.
Primarily, Clive uses the moulds to form the bases for his cups and teapots (though they can also function as knobs and handles). Most of the thrown pots come to a point and cannot stand on their own so a symbiotic relationship is formed between pot and base. While he still works with moulds, Clive’s work has evolved, and he often hand builds or throws bases for a more organic feel.
Yet all of Clive’s pots contain a good lump of fun. He says that his ironic sense of humor and whimsy draws on British humour. He grew up watching shows like Fawlty Towers, The Young Ones, listening to Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhicker’s Guide to the Galaxy on the BBC, and reading nonsense verse. “I never realized how much English humour and tradition shaped my perceptions of art until I began making the teapots,” he says. “It made sense – or nonsense – for me to incorporate my perception of play with a traditional aspect of my history, and ceramic history, the teapot.”
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