The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Critically endangered birds are the focus of award-winning ceramic artist Jean White. Located in Northwich in Cheshire, UK, White spent most of her career as a freelance illustrator, occasionally teaching design classes to augment her income, before returning
to school to earn her master’s degree. A bird watcher for several years, she combined her two interests early on in her ceramics making at evening classes.
“My master’s focused on finding a narrative to drive my work forward,” explains White, who wanted to do something to publicize the severe decline of species such as the swift (Great Bustard), which was previously vulnerable and is now
treated as endangered. “This has become raising awareness of Red List Birds, using metaphors. I use sprigs because of the similarity in their appearance to fossils and I can therefore imply extinction by using them.”
Raising Awareness
Threatened bird species of most concern, requiring urgent action, are placed on the Red List, which was drawn up by the Survival Service Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the International Council for Bird Preservation
in 1964. It has since evolved into the world’s most comprehensive data source on global extinction risk and includes the greenfinch, House Martin, Montagu’s Harrier, ptarmigan, Purple Sandpiper, and swift. Through her work featuring these
vulnerable birds, White can highlight their plight.
She won the prestigious Franz Rising Star Award 2020/21. This international porcelain prize for recent graduates received seven hundred applicants in the year White entered. “Winning was amazing,” she enthuses, adding, “and they purchased
my work for the Franz Collection (a Taiwanese porcelain brand founded in 2001).
Her favorite things to make are lamps. “I like the way I can get a lithophane effect (porcelain impressed with figures that are made distinct by transmitted light) with the porcelain/parian I use.”
White, whose work is inspired by the neoclassical wares of Josiah Wedgwood, Josiah Spode, and other manufacturers of sprigged ware in the 18th and 19th centuries, features the shag, curlew, Great Crested Grebe, avocet, lapwing, Song Thrush, swift, and
skylark bird species. She makes concave and convex shapes to echo the way fossils can be when they are split open. The collection she developed during her graduate studies is titled Future Fossils and she sees this “continuing in different
iterations long term.”
White credits her mother with fostering her love of the natural world: “Mum was always good at pointing out flowers, birds, and so on, and then about ten years ago I started bird watching every week with a more knowledgeable friend.” White
continues to birdwatch on a regular basis.
The Process
“I start with drawing,” she says. “I then carve my drawings from porcelain and make sprig molds from them—this is the greatest skill I have learned. It suits my ideas and the aesthetics I am trying to achieve. It blends my ceramics
interest with my graphics/ illustration. Most of my current collection uses three-dimensional prints for the main model shape. I combine the sprigs and models to make molds. Most of my molds are in three parts plus a reservoir ring, but I do have
a couple of molds that have more pieces. Once I have a mold designed and made, my main process is slip casting, which I bisque, then wet sand, high fire, and then polish.”
Parian slip and special porcelain slip are White’s mediums of choice. “I use them ready-made, using ceramic stains as colorants,” she says, adding that she likes the warm white. “As yet I have not been able to find a glaze that
fits the Parian; the tests I have done have been such a bad fit that the mugs shatter in the kiln! I want a slip that is properly white, to be able to mix clean colors and I want the strength and translucency of Parian or porcelain.” Using the
porcelain for mugs allows her to glaze the insides. Glazing is kept to a minimum and she uses a ready-made glaze powder and adds water.
There is no need for a wheel. “I have done a little throwing and would like to perhaps pursue that someday, but then there are so many possibilities with ceramics, something else will probably happen instead.”
Her garage is home to a well-built 46-liter Ikon V46 electric kiln. A typical day for White “usually includes something to do with ceramics: anything from applications, firing, sanding, casting, drawing, carving, mold making, and admin. It varies
according to what I’m preparing for.”
New Work and Inspiration
New work is White’s current focus as she prepares for an exhibition in the summer of 2024. “I will definitely be making new sprig molds with new bird species and hopefully new model shapes,” she says. “I also have to have enough
work to restock galleries as well as prepare for a fair I’ve been selected for.”
She plans to extend her Future Fossils collection, adding new species and new shapes to keep collectors’ (and her own) interest. “I have a new fair to try and hope to be accepted for ones I’ve done before,” White says,
adding, “I have an exhibition to prepare for which will involve other makers interested in birds and their plight.”
“Always interested” in art as a child, White was surrounded by inspirational family members. “My grandmother was always making things, painting, sewing, and anything that caught her eye. I remember she gave me a ‘how to paint’
book that I worked through over and over again. Dad was a trained cabinet maker who taught woodwork and was always making furniture and then writing articles for woodworking magazines. So, making was definitely around me as a child. My family was
very supportive when I chose to start art at A-level and I was always keen on drawing/painting/ making as a child.”
As a teenager, White was taken to art galleries “and was very drawn to Pablo Picasso and David Hockney as artists.” Her love of art saw her pursue it past A-level. She did a Foundation Art & Design course and then a BA Hons graphics/illustration
degree.
“Pottery was just not on my radar at all, though. I bumped into using clay really. I enrolled in a printing course at my local college, but there weren’t enough students to run the course, so they offered me a place on their ceramics evening
course instead, which I did one evening each week as a hobby for several years. Then the college closed down entirely, by which time I was seriously interested in ceramics, so I started an MA in Craft: Design at Manchester Metropolitan University
specializing in ceramics. The second year of my MA at Manchester I had to complete in lockdown (I therefore missed out on some of the hands-on side) so topped up at Staffordshire University to improve my mold-making skills. I did a semester at Staffordshire
University on their MA course.”
White’s ceramics, which typically sell for under $249 (£200), are available in Manchester Art Gallery (where she won their Showcase Award in 2021), The Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool, Cambridge Contemporary Crafts, New Ashgate Gallery
in Farnham, Flux in Bristol, and Frivoli Gallery in London. Supporting herself with sales of her work and residual income from illustration royalties, White can focus on finding her audience “I find my sales steady and I am gradually finding
the right places for my work to sell.”
We understand your email address is private. You will receive emails and newsletters from Ceramic Arts Network. We will never share your information except as outlined in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
You have read of of your complimentary articles for the month.
For unlimited access to Ceramics Monthly premium content, subscribe right now for as low as $4.85/month.
We understand your email address is private. You will receive emails and newsletters from Ceramic Arts Network. We will never share your information except as outlined in our privacy policy. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Subscribe to Ceramics Monthly
The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.
Critically endangered birds are the focus of award-winning ceramic artist Jean White. Located in Northwich in Cheshire, UK, White spent most of her career as a freelance illustrator, occasionally teaching design classes to augment her income, before returning to school to earn her master’s degree. A bird watcher for several years, she combined her two interests early on in her ceramics making at evening classes.
“My master’s focused on finding a narrative to drive my work forward,” explains White, who wanted to do something to publicize the severe decline of species such as the swift (Great Bustard), which was previously vulnerable and is now treated as endangered. “This has become raising awareness of Red List Birds, using metaphors. I use sprigs because of the similarity in their appearance to fossils and I can therefore imply extinction by using them.”
Raising Awareness
Threatened bird species of most concern, requiring urgent action, are placed on the Red List, which was drawn up by the Survival Service Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature and the International Council for Bird Preservation in 1964. It has since evolved into the world’s most comprehensive data source on global extinction risk and includes the greenfinch, House Martin, Montagu’s Harrier, ptarmigan, Purple Sandpiper, and swift. Through her work featuring these vulnerable birds, White can highlight their plight.
She won the prestigious Franz Rising Star Award 2020/21. This international porcelain prize for recent graduates received seven hundred applicants in the year White entered. “Winning was amazing,” she enthuses, adding, “and they purchased my work for the Franz Collection (a Taiwanese porcelain brand founded in 2001).
Her favorite things to make are lamps. “I like the way I can get a lithophane effect (porcelain impressed with figures that are made distinct by transmitted light) with the porcelain/parian I use.”
White, whose work is inspired by the neoclassical wares of Josiah Wedgwood, Josiah Spode, and other manufacturers of sprigged ware in the 18th and 19th centuries, features the shag, curlew, Great Crested Grebe, avocet, lapwing, Song Thrush, swift, and skylark bird species. She makes concave and convex shapes to echo the way fossils can be when they are split open. The collection she developed during her graduate studies is titled Future Fossils and she sees this “continuing in different iterations long term.”
White credits her mother with fostering her love of the natural world: “Mum was always good at pointing out flowers, birds, and so on, and then about ten years ago I started bird watching every week with a more knowledgeable friend.” White continues to birdwatch on a regular basis.
The Process
“I start with drawing,” she says. “I then carve my drawings from porcelain and make sprig molds from them—this is the greatest skill I have learned. It suits my ideas and the aesthetics I am trying to achieve. It blends my ceramics interest with my graphics/ illustration. Most of my current collection uses three-dimensional prints for the main model shape. I combine the sprigs and models to make molds. Most of my molds are in three parts plus a reservoir ring, but I do have a couple of molds that have more pieces. Once I have a mold designed and made, my main process is slip casting, which I bisque, then wet sand, high fire, and then polish.”
Parian slip and special porcelain slip are White’s mediums of choice. “I use them ready-made, using ceramic stains as colorants,” she says, adding that she likes the warm white. “As yet I have not been able to find a glaze that fits the Parian; the tests I have done have been such a bad fit that the mugs shatter in the kiln! I want a slip that is properly white, to be able to mix clean colors and I want the strength and translucency of Parian or porcelain.” Using the porcelain for mugs allows her to glaze the insides. Glazing is kept to a minimum and she uses a ready-made glaze powder and adds water.
There is no need for a wheel. “I have done a little throwing and would like to perhaps pursue that someday, but then there are so many possibilities with ceramics, something else will probably happen instead.”
Her garage is home to a well-built 46-liter Ikon V46 electric kiln. A typical day for White “usually includes something to do with ceramics: anything from applications, firing, sanding, casting, drawing, carving, mold making, and admin. It varies according to what I’m preparing for.”
New Work and Inspiration
New work is White’s current focus as she prepares for an exhibition in the summer of 2024. “I will definitely be making new sprig molds with new bird species and hopefully new model shapes,” she says. “I also have to have enough work to restock galleries as well as prepare for a fair I’ve been selected for.”
She plans to extend her Future Fossils collection, adding new species and new shapes to keep collectors’ (and her own) interest. “I have a new fair to try and hope to be accepted for ones I’ve done before,” White says, adding, “I have an exhibition to prepare for which will involve other makers interested in birds and their plight.”
“Always interested” in art as a child, White was surrounded by inspirational family members. “My grandmother was always making things, painting, sewing, and anything that caught her eye. I remember she gave me a ‘how to paint’ book that I worked through over and over again. Dad was a trained cabinet maker who taught woodwork and was always making furniture and then writing articles for woodworking magazines. So, making was definitely around me as a child. My family was very supportive when I chose to start art at A-level and I was always keen on drawing/painting/ making as a child.”
As a teenager, White was taken to art galleries “and was very drawn to Pablo Picasso and David Hockney as artists.” Her love of art saw her pursue it past A-level. She did a Foundation Art & Design course and then a BA Hons graphics/illustration degree.
“Pottery was just not on my radar at all, though. I bumped into using clay really. I enrolled in a printing course at my local college, but there weren’t enough students to run the course, so they offered me a place on their ceramics evening course instead, which I did one evening each week as a hobby for several years. Then the college closed down entirely, by which time I was seriously interested in ceramics, so I started an MA in Craft: Design at Manchester Metropolitan University specializing in ceramics. The second year of my MA at Manchester I had to complete in lockdown (I therefore missed out on some of the hands-on side) so topped up at Staffordshire University to improve my mold-making skills. I did a semester at Staffordshire University on their MA course.”
White’s ceramics, which typically sell for under $249 (£200), are available in Manchester Art Gallery (where she won their Showcase Award in 2021), The Bluecoat Display Centre in Liverpool, Cambridge Contemporary Crafts, New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham, Flux in Bristol, and Frivoli Gallery in London. Supporting herself with sales of her work and residual income from illustration royalties, White can focus on finding her audience “I find my sales steady and I am gradually finding the right places for my work to sell.”
Learn more, www.jeanwhiteceramics.co.uk.
the author British journalist Tim Saunders writes about art and ceramics. When he has time, he enjoys painting and making.
Unfamiliar with any terms in this article? Browse our glossary of pottery terms!
Click the cover image to return to the Table of Contents