Catherine Beetham - Ceramics Lecturer 

Portrait and interview - 1994

Catherine Beetham, a lecturer in ceramics at Plymouth College of Art and Design (now Arts University, Plymouth), trained at Manchester Polytechnic, where she obtained a degree in ceramics.

Her work has changed since leaving Hebden Bridge in West Yorkshire where she had her own workshop and exhibited extensively.

Though still making vessels, she is currently more concerned with experimenting and developing sculptural and decorative forms.  Potting in her spare time has given her the freedom to explore fewer commercial ideas.

Though often working in colour, Catherine is frequently drawn to the creative drama of black and white, as her friends will have observed.  She started making wood cuts in 1982 and her love for black and white work seems to stem from this time.  She feels a great nostalgia towards the art and décor of the 40s and 50s and her house reflects her interest in collecting objects from that period.

Catherine's work can be seen at Marshall Arts in Totnes and The Devon Guild in Bovey Tracey (now Make Southwest) where she has been a member since 1993.

She has recently exhibited at the Juliet Gould Gallery in Fowey.  From September 1994, a sample of Catherine’s ceramics and wood cuts will be included in a mixed media exhibition of various artists working in black and white at Coombe Farm, near Dartmouth.

An example of her work can be seen in the vase on the plinth.  

Update: Catherine has since retired from teaching.