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Meet the artistic duo of Potters’ Yard Arts, artist/potter Liz Mathews and writer Frances Bingham!
Having first joined Gabriel’s Wharf in the 90s, Liz and Frances ran a successful Christmas pop-up called ‘A Winter Feast’ in 2023, before opening their brand-new shop in 2024.
As a lettering artist and studio potter, Liz has exhibited very widely, and her work is in public collections including the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Poetry Library along the river in the Southbank Centre; she's also a selected member of the Crafts Council Directory. Her monumental artist’s book Thames to Dunkirk is the largest book in the British Library’s permanent collection.
Frances is a widely published writer across the spectrum, having published poetry, fiction and biography; her most recent book was shortlisted for last year's Polari Prize. They've worked together for many years on text/image projects, including many works of local interest to Gabriel’s Wharf and the London Thames.
We spoke to Liz to find out more:
“I’m a studio potter and lettering artist and I make all of the work in the shop. I make pots in white stoneware, which are thrown on the wheel and decorated completely by hand – all the lettering and the foliage is done by hand.
I make artists books that are made from a single sheet of paper that’s torn and folded into a sequence of pages, and sometimes I make artists books as an extended concertina with some of the largest handmade paper in the world! I make these paper works with handmade paper, which is quite closely related to the clay.
I also make small-scale house portraits in clay of much-loved buildings in terracotta or stoneware. I'm fascinated with exploring the character of each subject, the spirit of the place, and catching a likeness. For instance, my portrait of Fenton House in Hampstead, a National Trust House, is a rather good example of what I do. Usually, I make individual houses, people’s houses, or portraits to commission, and this piece is a pretty grand example.”
Discover what’s in store at Potters’ Yard Arts, or even commission a bespoke art piece of your own – only in Gabriel’s Wharf.