Tony Foard
Tony specialises in raku and smoke fired figurative ceramics. he makes tall slender female figures with a predominately African feel and a certain 'attitude', combined with a timeless quality that comes from the effects of the smoke.
The figures are hand built using a white clay with most of the final colour and decoration coming from smoke penetrating the surface in a controlled way. Tony also use small amounts of glaze and lustres. Each figure is fired in sections, often several times and assembled with either coiled wire or silver collars of varying complexity that are made by a silversmith friend, Michael Bolton. Sometimes he adds silver leaf to the finished pieces. This is artificially tarnished to compliment the smoked surface. Average height is 48 cm.
Occasionally Tony gets back on the wheel for a throwing session. The centre photo is a small selection of bowls - glazed on the inside, burnished and smoked on the outside. The recipe for the white crackle glaze which Tony uses in most of his bowls is in the glaze database. Tony has a personal website where you can see more of his work or contact him.