My initial art school training in England was within the Leach,Cardew, Davis traditions. I taught Art and Ceramics at Secondary and Tertiary levels and later took time out to raise a family. By the time I returned to teaching I had my own studio and was involved in developing my own work. In 1988 I moved to Vancouver, set up a studio with my husband Keith and work there full time.
There is a naturally established circular completeness to my lifestyle. I can make bread in the kitchen, tend to the garden on the way to the studio, and make pots to use with food. I enjoy this revolving cycle of activities, each including the others, and all contained behind tall laurel hedges in an urban environment that blends West Coast heritage, Japanese formality and English profusion.
In the world of potters, there are mud workers, chemists and firemen. I fit comfortably into the first category, being concerned with how much I can push clay around in its plastic state. My aim is for each piece I make to have a presence of its own, to invite being picked up and handled, and to stand quietly while waiting for use. My love is for a generous form which retains evidence of its making through all the processes and stage, which invites and includes the user, and adds to the richness of the domestic routine.
You're taking time out for yourself, or you're preparing a celebration with company, you need the specific serving bowl for that special recipe, the exact glaze to complement the food.
There's the particular mug you reach for, this perfect for tea, that for coffee - all this, simply because it "feels right".
Here they are - one of a kind, original vessels; an individual statement, a personal pleasure or every day, every meal, antidote to uniformity and mass production.
Here is a link to video of me hard at work in our studio
Celia Rice-Jones: In the Studio
Here is a link to a video tour of Wildrice Studio
A Life in the Day: 25 Years On