Surveyed
Matthew Blakely trained at the National Art School in Sydney, where he won the state medal in 1993, before returning to Britain in 2002 and setting up his studio in the village of Lode, between Cambridge and Ely. He throws porcelain and stoneware on the wheel and makes his own glazes from rocks and clays gathered on trips around Britain, arguing that industrial glazes sever the link between a potter and the ground the materials came from. His monthly weekend courses take a maximum of five students, split between beginners learning to centre and throw and more experienced potters working on glaze development. Separate intensive workshops focus solely on reading and mixing glazes from raw rock and ash.