Anne Cope

Ceramic Artist – Topsham, Devon

Anne Cope makes slab-built decorative pots and bowls and also colourful stoneware jewellery. Although she briefly did pottery evening classes at Exeter College a few years ago, she is largely self-taught. She works in her garden shed where she has an electric kiln. All her wares are fired to 1,250 degrees C.

Her ceramic jewellery does not generally include metal, except sterling silver in earrings. Everything is made by hand – no moulds or stamps or machines been used. Her colours are achieved not by glazes but by staining little batches of clay before making the beads. Transparent matt or gloss glaze is applied to bring out the colours during firing. Very strong dyed cotton thong is used to string the beads. Many of Anne’s necklaces have tie ends, which the wearer ties to length, or a little ceramic toggle. This is because ‘bohemian chic’ is the look aimed for – the opposite of dressy, clinical, twinkly. Smooth stoneware is a fantastic material for making jewellery – it is very tough and doesn’t fade or crack. It might even last for hundreds of years!

To view Anne Cope’s work, please click on her tab in the right hand column.