Ceramics has been Jon Barrett-Danes’ family for at least five generations. The earliest records show a pottery at Hoo in Kent dating from 1834, and Jon’s great-great-uncle Edward Baker worked at the well-known Upchurch pottery in Kent from 1909 (and later owned it).
Each generation has produced their own particular style of work, and Jon’s father, Alan, was the first to break with tradition by leaving the family pottery, undertaking a formal college training and entering the pottery industry as a designer.
He later taught ceramics at Cardiff College of Art and worked collaboratively on work with Jon’s mother Ruth in the 1960s and 1970s. Some of their joint ceramic work is kept in the permanent collection at V&A Ceramic Collection London and the National Museum of Wales, Cardiff.
Jon graduated from Bristol University in 1985 with a degree in ceramics, specialising in thrown ware and glaze development. His college years were marked by two contrasting influences: the elegant lines of 19th-century Wedgwood Creamware catalogues and the playful energy of cartoon drawings. He also delved into the technical aspects of ceramics, building kilns and experimenting with wood-fired salt glazes, which he later applied to his enduring fascination with teapot forms.
After a period of exploration – working as a college technician, traveling, and pursuing various short-term jobs, including landscape gardening – Jon rekindled his passion for ceramics. He began making pots in his spare time while training to become a teacher, a profession he continues to pursue, currently teaching a range of courses from his workshop in Hampshire.
While his initial focus was on wheel-thrown objects, particularly teapots, the time-consuming nature of their creation led him to explore alternative avenues. Drawing inspiration from his parents’ collaborative work, which seamlessly blended classical vessels with fantastical creatures, Jon began creating animal sculptures. His journey began with a pig, a form that, he says, emerged organically. He subsequently expanded his repertoire to include sheep, chickens, cows, and horses, continually refining and developing each form.
His animal forms still embody the same concern for form and profile that sustained him in the search for the ideal teapot, and he has transferred many of the elements that excited him in that development, combining classical strength with wit and humour.
A sense of humour and a keen observation of nature is the driving force behind the figurative sculpture of Jon Barrett-Danes.
Jon’s early years spent exploring the wild hills that surrounded his home led him to be a keen observer of nature in all it’s guises and this has been translated into his animal sculptures that confront and challenge the onlooker.
However, there is lurking behind those beady eyes a wealth of fun embodied in the lively and richly personal vocabulary that he has made his own. Guaranteed to make you smile.
