At this year’s Art in Clay Hatfield Svend Bayer, a regular exhibitor at the show, will be selling his personal collection of his own early pots.
Svend Bayer is best known for his large garden pots, but also makes domestic wares. He uses a wood-fired, cross-draught, single-chamber 800 cu.ft. kiln, and is based in Sheepwash, Devon.
He was born of Swedish parents in Uganda in 1946, and came to England when he was sixteen. He studied at Exeter University from 1965 to 1968 and started working with Michael Cardew at Wenford Bridge in 1969. In 1972 he joined the Brannam Pottery where he worked as a thrower for a year. After travelling in the Far East, Asia and the U.S.A., he set up his workshop in Devon.
His work is sometimes plain, sometimes boldly decorated, often with large bird designs.