About my work
My interest in making my own pottery began in 1989 at a local evening
class and the sheer joy of working with clay was immediate.
I soon realised that Ceramics was a vast subject and wanting to find out more about techniques, glazing and firings embarked on a course at Chesterfield College. The experience proved invaluable and led me to apply for a place on the Applied Art degree course at The University of Derby; I graduated in 2000 with a first class (Hons) degree.
After graduation my partner and I decided to become self-employed and share a building in Cromford, Derbyshire. He ran a quantity surveying practice and I had my own pottery workshop and showroom. This worked well until my partner unexpectedly died. I was unable to carry on renting the building on my own and decided to move my pottery business and work from home.
Working with clay helped me through bereavement and I wanted to make something to acknowledge this. Through research I found that commercially produced funerary urns often left me feeling cold and empty. There seemed to be nothing uplifting about them. They were simply a container for ashes and often without character.
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I thought I could improve on this and set about designing and making unique, hand-built funerary urns, that I hoped, in a discrete way, might celebrate life and be of some comfort to those who remain.
Each funerary urn is made using the slow and considered technique of hand building. This method is the earliest form of pottery making and it feels natural for me to work in this way. Through it I feel a deep connection to the material and to our ancestors.
An interest in ancient standing stones, with their carved decoration and symbols, led to research into Neolithic burial mounds and consequently, to investigate the newly built barrows that have chambers with niches to hold funerary urns.
The Long Barrowin Wiltshire is constructed in a similar way to those built in Neolithic times and was the first to be built in 5000 years. Some of my urns now rest in this barrow, a place for contemplation where people come together to remember loved ones, spend time and share memories.
More of these monuments are being built as people search for meaningful and alternative ways to commemorate the dead. In Warwickshire there is Mid-England Barrow while in Kent at The Lost Village of Dode, Holly Barrow nestles underground. Sacred Stones have barrows in Cambridgeshire and Shropshire.
I am a member of the Heritage Crafts Association, Northern Potters, the Good Funeral Guildand the Society of Bereavement Practitioners.
Exhibitions
2020 - 2024
- 2024 November – 2025 January, Water Street Gallery, Todmorden – Seeds of Change
- 2024 November, Cista Arts, Time: The Passage of Time and Cycles of Life
- 2024 May 25 – 27, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2024 September 7 & 8, Wardlow Mires Pottery & Food Festival, Mires Lane, Wardlow
- 2023 April 1 – 2, Sheffield Ceramics Festival, Kelham Island Industrial Museum, Sheffield
- 2023 May 27 – 29, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2023 September 9, Heritage Open Day – Creativity Unwrapped, Matlock
- 2022 May 28 – 29, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2022 July 23 – October 08, Solo Exhibition – Echoes: reverberations across millenia, Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Buxton
- 2022 August 18 – September 03, Open Mind – Open Gallery, 18 Rawson Street, Halifax
- 2021 June 26 – August 15, Phoenix, Leabrooks Art Complex, 36 Leabrooks Road, Somercotes
- 2021 July 7 – 17, Unity, Fronteer Gallery, 18 Exchange Street, Sheffield
- 2021 September 11 & 12, Wardlow Mires Pottery & Food Festival, Mires Lane, Wardlow
- 2020 February 7 – April 24, Reaching Towards, The Manger Gallery, Kings Newton, Nr. Melbourne
- 2020 May 23 – 25, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock – Cancelled due to Corona virus
- 2020 July 4 – September 27, ECHOES: reverberations across millennia, Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Buxton – Postponed due to Corona virus
2015 - 2019
- 2019 May 18 – June 22, Open 2019, The Old Lock Up Gallery, Cromford
- 2019 May 25 – 27, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2019 July 6 – 27, Botanicals, Exchange Place Studios, Sheffield
- 2019 July 6 – September 13, Derbyshire Open, Buxton Museum and Art Gallery, Buxton
- 2019 July 13 – August 24, Makers Mark, Cupola Gallery, Sheffield
- 2018 January 12 – March 9, Peak District Artisans, Chatsworth
- 2018 February 12 – May 20, Still, The Manger Gallery, Kings Newton, Nr. Melbourne
- 2018 February 26 – March 23, Behind the Smile, Banks Mill Studios, Derby
- 2018 May 26 – 28, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2017 January 6 – March 17, Peak District Artisans, Chatsworth
- 2017 May 27 – 29, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2016 January 6 – March 13, Peak District Artisans, Chatsworth
- 2016 May 28 – 30, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2016 September 23 – 25, Art Out Loud, Chatsworth
- 2015 May 3 – 4, Belper Arts Festival
- 2015 June 26 – 28, Earth and Fire Ceramics Festival, Rufford
2010 - 2014
- 2014 May 3 – 4, Art in the Round at The Roundhouse, Derby
- 2014 May 24 – 26, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2014 July 12, Bakewell Green Festival
- 2013 May 25 – 27, Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2013 July 20 – 21, Great Dome Art Fair, Buxton
- 2012 Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2011 Derbyshire Open Arts, Matlock
- 2011 Transformations in Clay, Sheffield Cathedral
- 2010 Ashes to Art (5) The Gallery at Funeria, California, USA
- 2010 Women Artists, Gallery Top, Rowsley, Derbyshire
- 2010 The Northern Potters, Rufford
2005 - 2009
- 2008 Ashes to Art (4) The Gallery at Funeria, California, USA
- 2008 Earthmarque, The Dome, Buxton
- 2005 Northern Fire, the gallery@OXO, London
- 2005 Living Rooms, Harley Gallery, Wellbeck, Nottingham
2000 - 2004
- 2002 Common Ground: Original Craft from the Peak District, The Millenium Galleries, Sheffield
- 2002 Art in Clay, Hatfield House, Hertfordshire
- 2002 Oxford Studio Ceramics, St Edward’s School, Oxford
- 2001 Beyond Function, The Millenium Galleries, Sheffield
- 2000 Contemporary Art Auction, Castle Museum, Nottingham
- 2000 Craft Potters Association Autumn Fair, Oxford
Echoes 2022
Echoes: reverberations across millennia 23 July – 08 October 2022
Over the years I’ve become increasingly interested in archaeology, particularly standing stones with their carved decoration and symbols. This led to research into Neolithic and Bronze Age burial practices, due in part to my own experience of loss. I became intrigued by ceramic cinerary urns made by our ancestors to contain cremated remains and began to design and make funerary urns, not as copies, but contemporary interpretations with great respect for the past.
In the Autumn of 2018 I submitted a proposal to Buxton Museum and Art Gallery entitled Echoes: reverberations across millennia. Through design, concept and materials the aim was to show a connection between Neolithic and modern-day practices of honouring the dead.
At the end of 2018 I was delighted to receive an offer to exhibit my work in the summer of 2020. And then came Covid! The Museum was closed to the public leaving me unsure whether my exhibition would go ahead. Fortunately, it wasn’t cancelled, only postponed until the summer of 2022.
Inspiration for the decoration of a funerary urn comes from the study of patterns and symbols used at that time. I began by making tiles to test patterns using tools that would have been available in Neolithic times such as pointed sticks, Antler shards and bone. The designs on the entrance stone at Newgrange, the Neolithic passage grave in Ireland, captivate me, particularly the spiral, the natural form of growth and symbol of everlasting life which I use as my maker’s mark.
Newgrange was built to align with the sunrise at the winter solstice when sunlight floods the passage and illuminates the interior, a suggestion of conception and subsequent re-birth, an echo of the past reverberating even now.
The Long Barrow in Wiltshire is similarly aligned. This contemporary, spiritual monument, completed in 2014, was constructed in a similar way to Newgrange, albeit using modern day equipment. Inside, branching from either side of a central passageway, are chambers with niches for the placement of funerary urns. Some of my urns now rest in this barrow, a place where people come together to share memories and celebrate the life of a loved one.
Testimonials
“It is my pleasure to recommend the work of Ann Bates which, in my experience, is excellent both technically and artistically. Ann’s ceramic pieces are also imbued with a rare spiritual quality.”
LD, Newcastle-upon-Tyne
“Thank you Ann, for your kindness and empathy and for making this more than just the purchase of an object to hold my husband’s ashes. When I looked at the urn I saw the work and the skill and the part of yourself that had gone into creating it. You must have tremendous job satisfaction!”
Mrs JR, West Midlands
“We wanted to express our warmest appreciation of the immense care you took in realising the designs we commissioned, your only concern being to achieve the closest possible match to our vision in terms of design, colour and glaze, however much experimentation that might take. We are delighted with the result and hope we can stay in touch.”
Mr and Mrs L, Nottingham
“I chose to commission Ann Bates to create an urn for my late wife’s ashes because I was dissatisfied with the impersonal and uninspiring offerings elsewhere. Initially attracted by the examples on her website, the resulting urn has far exceeded my expectations. It truly captures my wife’s spirit and is a wonderful and unique monument to her. Ann involved me in each stage of the design, eliciting my views but then transforming my basic ideas into a sensitive and beautiful work of art. The interactive process of development, as well as the urn itself, have helped me personally in coming to some closure on my grief.”
Mr PG, Scotland
“Working with Ann has been a real pleasure. Planning for end-of-life can be difficult. Working with someone who is kind, conscientious and thoroughly talented is a blessing. The urn Ann created for me is beautiful and an expression of my passionate love of family, friends, and life! Thank you Ann!”
LVL, Ohio, USA
“Several years ago my wife and I made the decision to have our ashes interred in the newly constructed Long Barrow at All Cannings in Wiltshire – the first such structure since Neolithic times. When my wife died very unexpectedly in 2018 I requested an urn that would both honour her memory and, being practical, survive underground for millennia. Ann’s solution was elegant but robust and exactly suited my requirements. I was so impressed that I have subsequently ordered another for myself.”
Mr GL, Berkshire
“Ann’s empathy and understanding made working closely with her on the design for the urn for my brother’s ashes a positive and uplifting experience. She sent me photos of every stage of the creative process for my information and approval and so I felt fully involved throughout. The finished urn is a fine piece of art work – both pleasing on the eye and structurally sound. The care and thought behind Ann’s hand-made urn makes it so more meaningful than a standard product and it is eminently fitting for my brother’s final resting place in the Neolithic-style Long Barrow in Wiltshire.”
HS, Devon
“Ann was extremely helpful and sent photos at every stage when designing and making the urn; it helped us feel involved in the creative process. Thank you Ann, for making such a beautiful object to honour my father.”
MH, Scotland
“I commissioned this piece for my funerary urn which is intended to rest in the All Cannings Long Barrow in Wiltshire. I wanted the design to reflect the Neolithic nature of the piece with its spirals and textures. Ann has done a fantastic job integrating these ancient elements into a contemporary and unique design. What might have been a very difficult subject was handled with care and sensitivity and as a result the process has been enjoyable as well as being a truly healing experience. Thank you, Ann. Highly recommended.”
GW, London
“We commissioned Ann to produce three urns, one for myself and one for my wife, both to be placed in The Long Barrow at All Cannings in due course. The third was for my daughter who wants to keep some of our ashes in her home. The whole commission was treated with kindness and understanding and we are delighted with the results. I chose Ann by instinct over other competitors, my instinct was right and I cannot recommend Ann enough.”
BW, Basingstoke