Our Artists

Near the entrance of the Museum are original workshops dating from 1838. The mechanical workshop still features the leather belts, pulleys and shafts that powered the workshop machinery. Today these workshops are home to a variety of professional artistic and creative tenants including painters, ceramicists, model makers, blacksmiths and more.

SHEENA CALVERT: THE TINY PRESS

The tiny press* is an independent studio for the production of work about 'material language'. Sheena Calvert is a word-based artist, designer, writer, and educator. She has made work about language, engaging with it through the medium of letterpress printing, for over 40 years.
At the tiny press (studio 5), she uses the collection of over 450 cases of metal and wooden letters, printed ephemera, multiple typewriters, and more, to explore our relationship with language, past, present and future. She does this using letterpress printing as her primary (but not only), medium, printing the work on a Vandercook Universal 1 press.
The tiny press is both a historical archive and a functioning studio for creative explorations of language. An entirely Artificial Intelligence non-compliant space, it's a place where Sheena (and the people she collaborates with), can express their deep love of human language, using only human language, surrounded by the sounds and smells of ink, paper and a softly humming printing press, or the sound of a clicking typewriter.

* The press is named after her beloved dog ‘tiny’.

ANN HUGHES

I make functional pots, using porcelain clay. These are thrown on the wheel, and decorated with
coloured slips and underglazes.
The forms – bowls, cups, plates, vases - are simple and classical: the decoration is contemporary,
with the emphasis on colour, and brushwork that creates the feeling of lightness and energy. These
are pots to use, and feel light and comfortable in the hand.
I take inspiration from many sources, and particularly from music and dance. Making a good pot is
similar to the mastering of technique for the dancer, with the opportunity to express ideas and my
own personality.
I work in Studio 3 at the Museum, and very much enjoy being part of this community.

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CLAIRE IRELAND

Claire produces elegant hand-built sculptural forms and collectable objects inspired by her studio’s location in the grounds of the museum. She creates structures in a variety of ways, using different clays and incorporating experimental surfaces as she develops her ideas. She views the process of the making the ceramic assemblages, akin to collage and delights in that element of chance.
Her approach resonates with the notion of “Ma”, a Japanese concept of negative space, evoking a deeper sense of a “gap” or “pause” giving new shape and meaning to the whole. The final stages of combining the components, is crucial to a successful outcome, intrinsically the clincher.
Claire is a professional member of the Craft Potters Association, the Society of Designer Craftsmen and Design Nation. Her book commissioned by The Crowood Press on “Surface Decoration for Ceramics” was published in January 2023.

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Photo by Richard Kalina

MAIRE GARTLAND

I am a painter and installation artist.
My work incorporates text sculpture mixed media and found objects, often a response to current affairs or memory.

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CLIVE BRADLEY

Volunteer at the museum since mid. 2023 - helping with Building Fabric maintenance.
Retired Structural Design Engineer.
As well as volunteering, I am a keen ceramicist (chiefly making jewellery) and practice my hobby at a unit in the Diesel House.
My jewellery is kindly displayed (and For Sale) in the Museum giftshop.

SUSAN WINDEATT (mOOaRT)

Art and illustration created using a range of media that plays with angle, perspective and texture to add fine detail and elements of humour.
Susan is trained in architecture, computer animation, psychology and also works as a registered UK Occupational Therapist.
Her work is available as originals, commissions, prints, cards, jewellery and even face painting.

HARTE CONSERVATION

Harte Conservation was established in 2017 and undertakes conservation/restoration of woodwork, furniture and related objects. Items can be of historic and artistic significance, or everyday items from home.
With over 20 years’ experience Piran Harte has previously held roles in large conservation firms, worked as a project manager and Cutty Sark’s Shipkeeper for Royal Museums Greenwich.
Harte Conservation has been based at The London Museum of Water & Steam since 2024.

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