Walter Keeler - Featured Ceramist in Bevere Gallery - from August 10th 2011

Walter Keeler

Message  from our Ceramic Curator -  Stuart Dickens :-

Display In The Gallery

COFFEE WITH WK

It is always a pleasure to spend time with Walter Keeler and his pots. He lives and works in a quiet corner of Monmouthshire surrounded by a delightful cottage garden and a silence that tells you that you are in the heart of the country

His home has impressive examples of his work from several decades and he has shelves of antique pots, some of which have influenced the development of his ceramics.

It was difficult for Walter to get his work to us for the current show and it was definitely no hardship for us to visit South Wales particularly as we had pretty much a free choice of the pieces for the gallery. Spoilt for choice hardly seems an adequate phrase!

Noticeably, every piece is mint quality. Whatever direction his work takes the precision, clarity of line and the sheer brilliance of his glazing and decoration are evident in every pot. Like so many master potters he is modest about his skill and extraordinary facility with his chosen medium.

8 of the 24 selected

The pieces we eventually selected are a snapshot of his current output. We also learnt that he has been developing  a yellow glaze and I have to say that the combination of his ink-wash grey glaze and the soft yellow is stunning. Unfortunately there were none of the yellow pots available but some were promised - watch this space.

Our visit was all too short, but as always when we left, life seemed that much better for the time spent with one of our great craftsmen.