Charlotte Mellis - Brief History
After Charlotte had travelled extensively and worked at a variety of jobs, her aunt, the potter Ann Stokes, suggested that in exchange for helping her in the pottery, Ann would teach her how to throw on the wheel.
This gave her a good grounding and she applied to Harrogate College of Art (1981 -1983 Vocational Ceramics – Distinction): tutors Tim Proud and Dennis Farrell, external examiners, Delan Cookson and Mike Dodd. Here she became interested in hand building techniques and found that she could express herself in a different way. However she returned to the wheel after college and made coloured domestic ware.
Charlotte exhibited widely in the UK and taught in school, college and from her own workshops in North Yorkshire and Newcastle upon Tyne. Public Collections include Poole Pottery Collector’s Club, the Pinchen Collection in Stoke and Aberystwyth Art Centre. After a 5 year break from ceramics, she has taken up hand building again and works out of her studio at Larach Mhor in the Isle of Mull.
While at college, Charlotte was introduced to the work of the American ceramicists Peter Voulkus and Paul Solder, and the photographer Walker Evans. Roger Hilton and Antoni Tapies are amongst several artists she enjoys and together with her interest in architecture and photography, these inform her work.
Full CV available on request – please Contact Me.
