Fenella Elms Studio is based on the edge of the Wiltshire downs in the heart of the countryside.
Fenella won prizes in both ceramics and design and her work has been presented in ceramic art books, as well as interiors and architecture magazines. Fenella’s work has been commissioned publicly and privately and has been purchased for exhibition in museum and privately held collections. Fenella died of cancer in December 2022; hard to believe when her fascination of the world continues to burst through her designs with vigour and vivacity. Read Fenella’s Testament below.
Fenella Elms Studio Team
Hebe Elms
Fenella’s daughter Hebe has been around throughout to see the studio grow from the first ever Flow to international exhibitions. She’s always played a part, whether discussing ideas for new artworks or running the Instagram.
Charlie Elms
Much the best at logistics, Charlie manages the business of orders: from suppliers to payments and shipping.
Support Team
Hannah Mears is our brilliant website designer with great ideas and an extraordinary eye for detail. Hannah is a hugely reassuring presence, always available to manage the website and keep digital things in order. With a passion for thoughtful design, Hannah has developed our new shop from web presence to printing and packaging.
Without photos, the business would not have started; essential for applications, catalogues, publications and the website. We are very grateful for the patience, imagination and good humour of photographers David Parmiter and Deborah Husk who show us how they see it.
Suppliers
Charlie counted until he got to over a hundred suppliers who keep us afloat. From pottery to printers, crates to clamps, van repairs to shippers, metal workers to wood workers, framers to fabrics; some are an essential extension. Thank you.
Fenella’s Testament
Here are some words from Fenella by which she lived and worked.
“I first discovered working with clay when I was taught to throw by a school teacher who enthusiastically took the class out to see a Lucy Rie exhibition at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 1981. I sought out workshops and classes over the years until I was given a wheel in 2004, which quickly led to Swindon College to study for an Art Foundation and HNC in ceramics (2008).
I keep fish, bees, ducks and sheep and take pleasure in noticing how a feather holds together, bees build, flowers unfold and sheep gather in a co-operative stance. I don’t seek to put what I see into clay: I notice movement, growth, structure and interaction and it seeps into the process. With this approach, it is possible to find a way through the visual to reach an expression of the experience.The making process is a practice carried over from previous psychoanalytical work: putting all the preparation aside, attentive, available to the work’s potential, allowing and attending to the unexpected, trusting the process. The repetitive nature of bringing together many components creates a rhythm and facilitates an active trance of intention. The finished work is a mix of the familiar and strangeness; I like the dissonance and have come to bear the disappointments. There is a pleasure in making just in the pursuit of an idea, rather than an outcome.
Porcelain slip is my material; a pleasure to pour, spread and squeeze. All the components are cast before building, waiting for the right stage of softness for them to work together. My making processes have developed in response to porcelain’s contradictory qualities of fragility and permanence, strength and delicacy, sharpness with a wavering softness in the kiln, before firing to a solid translucency. All the work comes out of the drive to show off, challenge, question the material qualities of porcelain.”
On Show
Past Exhibitions
The J.Lohmann Gallery in New York will be exhibiting at the 10th Anniversary Salon Art + Design exhibition, November 11-15, 2021.
I am delighted to exhibit work with Joern Lohmann’s New York gallery for his first time of showing at the London COLLECT craft Fair.
http://www.jlohmanngallery.com/art-fairs-exhibitions/current/
The Craft Council Fair will this year be virtual, from 26th February to 2nd March and I shall be participating in one live event.
Carrie Cunningham’s London exhibition “Time Suspended”. For more about Carrie’s work and this event see the Allegory Art website: Events - Allegory Art
A selection of wall-mounted works will be exhibited in the exhibition ‘What about Porcelain today?’
Europe’s leading event for interior design professionals in Olympia, London
Fenella's work is available and is often on show in:
NEW YORK
Joern Lohmann represents Fenella Elms’ work in the U.S. and holds limited stock.
J.Lohmann Gallery, New York NY 10021
www.jlohmanngallery.com
info@jlohmanngallery.com
By appointment only
The Circus gallery is open Monday to Friday 10am - 5pm
Links to the exhibition catalogue and film can be found below.
Circus is 21 - A Celebration of Collaboration
The J.Lohmann Gallery in New York has taken on representation of Fenella’s work and will be exhibiting new works at The Salon Art + Design, November 8-12th.
Decorex returns to Syon Park to open the London Design Festival.
Fenella’s works are included in an exhibition at the Swindon Museum and Art Gallery, well worth a visit for their great collection of 20th Century paintings and ceramics, until 24th November.
30th Anniversary Exhibition: 30 works by 30 artists
On show with Galerie Nummer40
A selection of Fenella Elms sculptures will be displayed on rotation between July and October.
On show with Galerie Nummer40
On show with Galerie Nummer40
The leading fair for contemporary ceramics from 31 March – 2 April 2017.
Celebrating modern art from Wiltshire and Swindon.
On show with Galerie Nummer40
Collect returns to the stunning setting of the Saatchi Gallery in London’s King's Road from 2 – 6 February 2017. Suspended Porcelain blocks will be exhibited in the VIP lounge designed by FBC London.
An exhibition of contemporary ceramics alongside works from the Swindon collection of Modern British Art. Free entry, open Wednesday - Saturday 11am - 3pm
Ceramic Art London, Central St Martins,
From Where I’m Standing, Swindon Museum and Art Gallery
Luxembourg Art Fair, Galerie Nummer40
BADA Fine Art and Antiques Fair, London
Antiques for Everyone
AAF, Hamburg
Winter Art & Antiques Fair, Olympia
AAF, Amsterdam
AAF, Stockholm
Nature By Design, London
AAF, Hamburg
AAF, Amsterdam
Solo Show 'FLOW' CAA in colaboration with Circus
Celebration of Old Masters - Second Half Foundation
Decorative Antiques & Textiles Autumn Fair - AD Antiques, London
"Sculptures as Textiles ; Textiles as Sculptures" - curated by Gina Grassi, Bluecoat Display Centre, Liverpool
Art & Antiques, Kensington Gardens
Beaux Art, 3 artist show
COLLECT, Saatchi Gallery, London
BADA Fine Art and Antiques Fair, London
Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art
Make it Slow, ART Unpacked Touring show curated by Grace Whowell, North Yorkshire and Lancashire
Ceramic Art London, Royal College of Art
With Galerie Nummer40:
AAF, Hampstead
AAF, Hamburg
AAF, Amsterdam
AAF, Maastricht
With AD Antiques:
The Mayfair Art and Antiques Fair, London
BADA Fine Art and Antiques Fair, London
Art Antiques, London
AAF Hamburg, Galerie Nummer40
AAF Amsterdam, Galerie Nummer40
Clay 20, Woodbury, Exeter
Design Junction, London
Cornwall Contemporary, Penzance
Ceramics Now, New Ashgate Gallery
Hampstead Affordable Art Fair, Cornwall Contemporary
Art Antiques London, AD Antiques
Brighton Festival Encounters@LangdaleRd
Ceramic Art London, Royal College Art
CAA Auction
Battersea Affordable Art Fair, Beaux Arts