Jonathan Garratt
Jonathan makes sculpture and pottery from clay which he digs and refines himself, a process which takes 2 years from beginning to end. He is one of the very few potters in the UK, if not the only one, who makes his own clay. He claims the very malleable and soft clay which results after this long process produces "the Rolls Royce of clays". He then fires his work in a woodfired kiln which he built many years ago. You can see a short film in the News section of this website which shows many of these different activities. The film, "Fired Fruits" is by David Hobson, and can also be seen at http://vimeo.com/29597918.
Jonathan developed his garden sculptural installations, which he calls "Garden Punctuation", with the intention that they provide humour, interest or definition wherever needed in a garden. Like punctuation in a written sentence, they create emphasis, breaks in a narrative, and clarity. The installations are infinitely variable, and their position and size can be changed according to need. He was a pathbreaker in this type of installation for gardens, where unexpected bursts of colour protruded through vegetation or bushes or shrubbery. His method of installing these colourful forms onto metal rods which allow the infinite flexibility of the installations has been much copied since he first showed this type of work as early as the year last decade of the 20th century.
Having studied archaeology, the form of Jonathan’s planters and sculptures often have their origin in African art, neolithic weapons or ancient Chinese pottery. In addition to his work for gardens, Jonathan makes a wide range of ceramic tableware and kitchenware, with a similar aesthetic and surface decoration as on his pots and sculptures for the garden.
Jonathan is much in demand as a lecturer and his domestic pottery and garden ceramics can be seen in many venues. He was also commissioned to create a garden at the Craft Study Centre in Farnham.
