Sarah Perry

"I am a potter because I enjoy the basic feel of clay – its versatility and the actual making process. Its type of plasticity is not found in any other medium; it can be stopped at any point and made permanent by firing, rather like the stones under one’s feet."

Sarah Perry (1945–2021)

The distinguished studio potter Sarah Perry trained at Camberwell Art School in the sixties, where she was taught and influenced most by Lucie Rie and Hans Coper. She gained a BA Hons in Ceramics.

Driven by her passion for clay, the inspiration for her wheel-thrown or slab-built works comes from seascapes and landscapes, and textures found in nature. Intensely coloured matt glazes of blue, turquoise, purple, pink and green overlap on simple forms to make vibrant seascapes and cool landscapes. Some pieces are decorated with coloured and metallic lustre glazes. Fired in an oxidising atmosphere to stoneware temperature 1260˚C.

In the late seventies Sarah lived and worked in Argentina, exhibiting in Buenos Aires in-between journeys around South America. During the nineties her work was sold at Liberties, Heals, and The Conran Shops in London, Paris and Tokyo. After this, her work slowly took on the 'sea palette', renewing her love of Cornwall, particularly the artistic legacy of St Ives.

In 1995, a piece of her work was auctioned at the American Craft Museum in New York; in 2002 she was commissioned to make 85 ceramic pieces for the Sandy Lane Hotel, Barbados.

Sarah lived and worked in Greenwich, London, a stone's throw from the River Thames, producing work for galleries all over the UK. She was a member of the Society of Designer Craftsmen.

Sarah sadly passed away on 31st August 2021. She is greatly missed by the team here at Porthminster Gallery.