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An exhibition at Coach House Gallery by local potter Tim Babbe is showcasing the beautiful and unique effects that can be created using the most unusual of materials.
The exhibition, which started on November 28 finishes on December 30.
Mr Babbe’s pots are all individual and handmade from clay that he mixes himself by blending raw materials using his own recipe.
He then uses a range of natural materials from copper, iron and cobalt to seaweed, banana skins and coffee grounds before firing the pots in a pit kiln in his back garden.
“One of the reasons I enjoy this method is that you’re never quite sure what you’re going to get till the end of the process… it really is a case of wait and see,” he said.
Pictured: An example of Mr Babbe's pottery.
His passion for ceramics began at school he later joined a local pottery producing commercial earthenware. He travelled to Australia in the late seventies, where he honed his craft by working with Australian and New Zealand potters before returning to Guernsey in the early eighties.
On his return to the island, he joined a small studio with notable potter Paul Dyer, working and selling at the Coach House Gallery. Mr Babbe now has a small studio at his home near Cobo and his passion for using new and old methods to get ‘the perfect pot’ has never waned.
After throwing the pots they are wrapped in a range of organic and natural materials, including seaweed collected from Grandes Rocques beach. They are then fired in a pit kiln and polished.
“There has been a bit of trial and error in developing this process” said Mr Babbe. “It has taken a long time to get it right, but I’m really happy with the results I’m now getting”.
Pieces range in size from small bottles and bowls through to large storage jars and vases.
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