Mystery Pot 35 Maker Geoffrey Swindell

Geoffrey Swindell piece from the Bailey Collection of Contemporary Ceramics Mystery Pot 35 You guessed it! The maker of our Mystery Pot 35 contest is in fact, Geoffrey Swindell!


“For over forty years I have been compelled to make these curious forms. Usually, they are vases but sometimes they become teapots, bowls or jugs and sometimes they don't have a name. Their creation has given me joy, despair, friends, money, and backache.”  
- Geoffrey Swindell


Miniature Sculpture, Geoffery Swindell
Photo credit: onlineceramics.com

Indeed! Geoffrey Swindell’s work is small, most six inches or less in height, small enough to fit in a pocket. He attributes his fascination with small worlds to his beginnings as an only child in a small terrace flat crowded with relatives in Stoke-on-Trent. A five foot by six foot “box room” his only personal space until he was 22 years old, young Geoffrey spent many hours lost in the world of his Knights in armor, Dinky toys and train sets. After discovering plastic models and the painted surface effects that interested him, he started to paint pictures in oil paint of imaginary landscapes and buildings.



Vessel, Geoffery Swindell
Photo credit: onlineceramics.com

At fifteen in 1960, Geoffrey left school to study painting at Stokes-on-Trent College of Art. A summer job in a local Stokes-on-Trent pottery and the discovery of the work of Lucie Rie and Ruth Duckworth made him interested in carrying on the pottery traditions of his ancestors. He continued his education at the Royal College of Art and went on to be a Lecturer at York School of Art and University of Wales Institute. Geoffrey Swindell has made his home and studio in Cardiff, Wales since 1975, drawing his inspiration for form, color, and texture from sea creatures, fossils, and his collections of objects found on the beaches of South Wales.



Bowl, Geoffery Swindell
Bailey Collection of Contemporary Ceramics

The work of Geoffrey Swindell is found in public museum collections and private collections all over the globe. The Bailey Collection of Contemporary Ceramics has two pieces of his fascinating work.



Vessel, Geoffery Swindell
Photo credit: onlineceramics.com