JULIENNE BRAHAM & JASON BRAHAM - Paintings and Pots

About

The Hepsibah Gallery is delighted to welcome back Jason and Julienne Braham for their Annual Exhibition at the gallery.

This was recently posted on Facebook by ‎Raymond Toms‎ to British Studio Pottery Collectors

Jason and I having just unloaded his kiln! ��

FINDING Jason Braham’s pottery studio is a tricky task, involving as it does, travelling into a remote part of Radnorshire about a mile or two outside Dolau. 
Jason, who spent 35 years as a teacher, has found contentment in his retirement, building up his hobby of 40-plus years making every kind of pot, plate, bowl and cup you can imagine. He uses a technique called salt glazing and describes himself as the northernmost of the South Wales Potters. He has been dabbling with pottery since 1972, juggling it with his career in teaching. However it is only since retiring from working in education that Jason has been able to develop his interest.

He built his kiln in 2005 and committed himself to making pottery full time in 2007 when he set up the appropriately named Far Hall Studio.

His website carries a detailed catalogue of the salt-glazed stoneware that Jason makes but anyone who wants 
Jason says: “The core of my work is a range of ‘standard ware’, though it is the nature of salt-glaze that no two pots are the same, and in any case I give myself a fair bit of freedom to vary a shape. Different clays give different colours and textures. I also make glazes from mixing wood ash and clay. I’m sure there is plenty of glaze potential in stone dust from the local quarries; I just need lots more time to experiment.”

He adds: “My pots are all thrown on a wheel. The next day they may be ‘turned’, which is a bit like using the wheel as a lathe, and handles are pulled on them. Another day and they’ll be dry enough to dip in ‘slip’ (liquid clay) and decoration will be wiped or cut through the slip layer. When bone dry they’ll be ready for the kiln and the salt glaze.
“I must be about the most northerly of the South Wales Potters; a day’s walk up the Offa’s Dyke and I’d be a North Wales Potter for sure. I began potting full time here in 2007 after a 35-year career in teaching. I draw inspiration from traditional country pottery, following the examples of Bernard Leach and, especially, Michael Cardew in the early decades of the last century, who drew attention to what was by then a dying craft. 
Jason says he is more than happy for people to visit his studio to see where he works and maybe buy some of his wares but he asks that people contact him via his website, www.jasonbraham.com, first – not least because they will probably need directions. “Being somewhat remote, the satnav is unreliable,” he says.