Joe Finch

Joe makes pots for every day use: dishes; bowls; jugs and plates; pots for cooking and serving food; vases for flowers; –  practical, unassuming, stoneware ceramics. His pots are ‘raw-glazed’ then ‘once fired’ in a large wood burning kiln that he designed and built himself. Some of his pots are ‘soda glazed’.

He started his pottery career in 1964 with a four year apprenticeship training under his father Ray Finch at Winchcombe Pottery.

Whilst learning the more obvious skills such as throwing, glazing and firing, he developed a natural eye for strong, functional forms, and the flexibility to produce pots that are both desirable and affordable.

All these factors are still paramount in his work. Since the 1960s he has built numerous successful kilns, for his own use and for other potters, mostly for high fired stoneware and using different fuels; natural gas, LPG, oil and wood.