Wendy Hayden

Wendy studied Fine Art in the 1980’s, using sculptural media and processes to create large-scale, predominantly ceramic work.  Concurrently with her teaching career in schools and colleges in London and the Isle of Wight, Wendy developed her own creative practice in both painting and ceramics, exhibiting in galleries across the south of England. Since retiring from education in 2021, Wendy has focussed on ceramics, experimenting with a range of clays to explore their potential possibilities and their limits. Each of her pieces is individual, using the repetitive and rhythmic process of coil building which allows the form to emerge in a unique and organic way. Surfaces exploit the characteristics of the clay used and are enhanced with coloured slips, metal oxides and chemical combinations which create rich textural surfaces and subtle colour variations. Vessels often look ancient or produce ambiguous qualities reminiscent of other materials and which suggest relics of the past whilst perhaps embodying an aesthetic, symbolic of our current times.