Hurn, Tim
 

Tim Hurn, 2001

Tim Hurn was born in Birmingham in 1964 At the age of fourteen his father's job took the family to Chislehurst, Kent. Tim studied at Camberwell School of Art under Colin Pearson and Takeshi Yasuda. He did a two year foundation course starting in 1982 and then after two years teaching pottery in Canton, Ohio, USA, returned to take a BA Honours degree in Ceramics and 3D design.

After leaving Camberwell in 1987 he spent six months in Japan furthering his ceramics experience at the International Workshop of Ceramic Art at Tokonome.

In1989 he joined John Leach at Muchelney as an apprentice and learned much about the day-to-day aspects of working as a potter.

Tim started his own pottery in 1992 at Bettiscombe, Dorset in 1992 where he built a large Anagama kiln with a very big 'European' firebox. (See Gnarly Dudes for details of Anagama firing.) He fires about four or five times a year - the kiln takes two days to stack - and he uses salt glazes, wood ash, and after 36 hours of stoking, throws brine soaked bundles of orchard prunings into the firebox, sending 'fly ash' and sodium vapour over the work in the kiln.