KILN IN CAMBRIDGE
Bilgin Soylu, and partner Stephanie are artists, he a superb potter whose work would look at home in any Mayfair gallery, she a painter – her New York show starts soon. You might think that is quite enough energetic output for one couple. But they have a bigger boast . Together they founded – and fostered- the brightest accessible potters’ studio for miles around, and it is open for everyone seven days a week. Kiln is a crucible of creativity. It lies, in the busy industrial end of Cambridge’s Ditton Walk, once an unpromising wreck, now a fabulous hub for potters.
The approach is stylish enough for an avant garden London venue.. Dozens of extravagantly planted plants crowd the austere concrete drive. It is an unexpected glade of gorgeous specimens in an otherwise bleak setting. Inside the restored building ,find an open room where light floods in from newly installed windows. There is a garden beyond open to all. Begun by artists the studio is democratically open to all and you can join for the price of a gym membership.
“People love it’ Stephanie confides , “They can come and work any time of the day or night. Everyone has a key and they can use the equipment (bar the actual kilns that would be asking for trouble) whenever they like”
With 20 running wheels, three large electric kilns, a huge gas-fired kiln, plus a small Raku kiln on-site, it’s one of the best-equipped open-access studios in the country. The variety of glazes possible is remarkable, from Japanese Tenmoku to traditional
There are classes for beginners through to intermediate-level potters
The Christmas Show demonstrates the brilliant range of style within the group. Intriguing figurative work displays lie alongside grand pieces of breathtaking skill ( Bilgin Soylu’s Turkish heritage shines through his remarkable daring designs) .Stephanie’s hugely likeable quasi- naif pantings form an exuberant background., and are worth a visit in themselves. The range of pottery is impressive. Some are essentially art pieces and others more Kettles-Yard-ish Lucie Rie -high glaze jugs and vases ready for anyone’s sitting room flowers.
Adventurous generous delightful democratic. What is simply not to love?
