Sean Poulton is an emerging artist craftsperson working from a studio in Devon and a workshop in Cornwall. His practice is multimedia discipline working in wood, metal and ceramics. Much of the work produced is in clay under the artists practice name of Chalk & Ginger. He is inspired by the local environment, found objects, history and the stories passed down. Sean is intrigued by how ancient techniques and processes produced such high quality work and this is integral to how some of his work is made. 

 

“I like the idea that a bronze age person needing a container just made one. A simple form made for a function that they then chose to personalise by decorating. Each pot has a story.”

 

Embracing new techniques such as scanning and 3D printing, pieces can be functional or decorative. Chalk & Ginger produces collections and one off pieces slip cast from moulds or hand built, that can be ordered online or purchased from selected craft markets. Chalk & Ginger also offer tailored personal bespoke pieces as well producing pieces in collaboration with other local artists. 

 

Chalk & Ginger is currently exploring the possibility of site art installations in collaboration with historical institutions such as English Heritage and the National Trust. These public installations are intended to be interactive and to push the inquisitive mind to find out more.

Chalk & Ginger in the future may also look at providing workshops within an education setting.

 

Recent collections include porcelain slip cast paper cups in a range of colours and styles. This collection is inspired by everyday cheaply made objects designed to be thrown away. Another collection is “The Bottle” slip casts made from whole, or parts of the bottle to produce a form, and a collection called the “Servants Bell” a range of slip cast pieces that all originated from another found object, a small servants bell. All the objects for this project were made by scanning artefacts, changing the form and scale and then 3D Printing the result. From these printed results slip casting moulds were made.

 

Other past work has been an installation piece called “A Trade in Wrecks” at Mount Edgcumbe, Plymouth. Four pieces that mark out the area of the wreck Metta Catharina 30M X 20M that lies in Barn Pool. This work was made of wood and metal pieces with the grass space between left to grow, so that the four pieces begin to sink into the grass and was designed for the public to enter and explore the wreck space. 

 

Currently Chalk & Ginger is working on a series of Bronze age styled pots decorated with modern exploded flat pack furniture designs. Each piece represents the home from the hut circles of the Bronze age to the modern home with our disposable culture and lust for ever more things. The concept that the purpose of the home hasn’t changed, but what we fill it with and how we use it has.