Portrait sitting for ceramic artist, Richard St John Heeley.

It’s always nice to work with friends and especially so when they are fellow creatives. Richard and I go back to sixth form where we studied art together at Wrekin College. He was always head and shoulders above the rest of us mere mortals in the art studio and it was always apparent that he would make a career in the creative world. I had him down as an illustrator/ fine art type and it was a pleasant surprise to see that he had gone into the world of ceramics when we caught up a few years ago.

After a school reunion we kept in touch and I have been to visit Richard several times at his home and studio, Hempmill in Staffordshire. What is obvious is his passion for his work and the extremely high standard of everything that leaves the studio. I’ll be honest in admitting that some of the names and technical terms are lost on me, but the set up there is really impressive. With one kiln already in operation and a second in the process of being built (queue Death Star being fully operational quote), the in house production team of Richard and partner Lucy have bigger and greater plans on the horizon. Lucy, also a trained ceramicist, now runs a cookery school from their home and I make the drive to Staffordshire purely for the baking alone.

Richard has a project in mind for 2021 and I’m hoping that we can work together on this to document his work in time for a solo exhibition towards the end of the year.

If you want to treat yourself to something special in the ceramic work the look no further, http://richardheeley.com/index.html/home.html