Adela Powell

Ceramics

18 Aug

As a ceramic artist, what Adela Powell naturally conveys is inspired by nature, landscapes and the sea. Her works examine the layered and eroded rocky surfaces while embracing fragility and the unpredictable.

As a ceramic artist, what Adela Powell naturally conveys is inspired by nature, landscapes and the sea. Her works examine the layered and eroded rocky surfaces while embracing fragility and the unpredictable. Adela’s passion for science and modern art was a clear influence in her work.

Adela loved the versatility of clay - handling and playing with it allows ideas to surface, producing potentially exciting and unexpected results. At other times, external stimuli would set off a chain reaction of ideas followed by considerations of how to express them through the material. Often her challenges were to overcome the technical and aesthetic issues in order to resolve, develop and communicate the meaning within her work.

Adela Powell’s vessels and sculptures are hand-built using various techniques, enhancing the tactile, textural qualities inherent in clay with many layers of oxides, slips and glazes, and more recently, organic and inorganic materials. Her pieces are mainly constructed from a white clay, sometimes incorporating paper clay and porcelain, which was then fired to stoneware temperatures.
Adela Powell (1945 - 2022) studied Natural Sciences at Liverpool University; later, she attended Plymouth College of Art and Design as a mature student.

With great sadness, Adela Powell passed in October 2022, leaving behind a legacy collection and a kiln ready for her final firing.