Bruce Walford

Born in South Africa, Bruce has been involved in professional ceramics for the past 30 years. Studies and apprenticeships served in both italy and South Africa having given him a broad understanding of the medium in which he works.

During the 7 years spent in Tuscany, Bruce specialized in high fired reduction stoneware whilst absorbing the tradition of low fired terracotta and earthenware. He participated in exhibitions in Milan, Florence and Luxemburg.

Five years followed studying and producing in Scotland, where Bruce had a studio outside Edinburgh and was sponsored by the Scottish Development Agency. He participated in group and solo exhibitions in Edinburgh, Glasgow and London.

Returning to South Africa in 1981, Bruce spent the next 15 years exploring many different aspects of ceramics. Having established himself amongst the art and ceramic fraternity as one of the top ten potters in the country with his high fired reduction stoneware, Bruce then branched out into various commercial ventures including slip cast ornaments (which were exported to UK, Canada and USA), jiggered domestic ware, and the manufacture of ceramic glazes and underglazes. A commission for the ESKOM hydro-electric pumped storage scheme gave Bruce the opportunity to explore ideas developed for large scale relief wall panels.

During this period many group and solo exhibitions were held in Johannesburg, Durban, Bloemfontein, East London, Port Elizabeth, Plettenburg Bay, Cape Topwn and South West Africa/Namibia.

1922 saw Bruce winning the South African Biennial Ceramics Awards – Thrownware Category and being invited to participate in the 1992 International invitational Exhibition of Ceramic Art at the National Museum of History in Taipei.

In 1995 Bruce and his family immigrated to Australia and settled in Hobart, Tasmania. After initially working alongside Bill Thomas, of Panogana Pottery, whilst he was establishing a commercial mug production, Bruce spent time developing a series of ceramic water features and is currently exploring raku fired multi-medium sculptures.