Ruth Gibson

From her peaceful garden studio in Shrewsbury, Ruth Gibson creates porcelain bowls, wall hangings, sculptures, and jewellery that evoke a deep sense of place. Drawing inspiration from the Shropshire hills and the Welsh coast and mountains, her work blends photography, printmaking, and ceramics to capture the textures, tones, and quiet beauty of the natural world.

Many pieces begin with walks across the rugged Stiperstones or the rolling Long Mynd, where Ruth observes winter trees, birds in flight, and the subtle marks of time etched into stone and earth. Fragments of maps are sometimes incorporated, rooting each piece in the landscape that inspired it. The distinctive forms of her ceramics echo ancient standing stones scattered across the hills of Shropshire, Wales and beyond.

Working primarily in porcelain, Ruth combines photo-real imagery with abstract mark-making, building layers through screen-printing, stretching, and glazing. Porcelain’s translucency becomes a canvas for subtle painterly surfaces and delicate natural tones — pieces that feel both timeless and contemporary, echoing pebbles, shells, and landscapes shaped by weather and memory.

Ruth’s practice explores the contemplative stillness of the natural world. Her ceramics invite quiet reflection and a deeper, sensory connection to the landscape — a moment to pause and be present within its beauty.

An experienced artist, teacher, and community arts facilitator with over 25 years working in clay, Ruth is known for her gentle, inspiring approach and her passion for sharing creativity. She offers bespoke workshops and creative retreats from her home studio, creating warm, welcoming spaces where art, conversation, and nature come together.

Exploring nature’s forms through clay -
where making, memory, and landscape meet.

"Ruth is a Master. I am thrilled with my pot, platter and warrior woman which I crafted with Ruth’s expert and sincere guidance during a morning workshop, rounded off with a wonderful wholesome lunch, and a follow up glazing session; both in her warm-hearted home. But, when I reflect on my experience it is the ‘soft’ benefits that I value as much as the tangibles. Nurturing, nourishing, calming and creative: a mindful moment to savour. Thank you so much Ruth for your generosity. "

Gail

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Clay

Take it in your hands –
this – which is just
dust and water –
a wedge, a lump
weighing heavy in the palm.

Simple gravity

made of the smallest bits of stone
and a milled mulch of long dead leaves –
beings mixed and blended
by the water’s flow
and the slow grind of seasons.

Push in your thumb, and press as if you held the hand

of a small child
or an old man –
a thing about to change.

There it will coil or flatten at your will, score, smooth or spin into symmetry.

The finger touch of slip

across a cracking edge
will leave your mark
in swirls and whorls –
and it will mark you in return - puckering you
with its dusty skin.

Add carbon’s heat –

a fix of fire –
and it will endure
from the ingenious past to the curious future.

It is a vessel we fill – a blank wet slate

on which we scratch our human state.

Kate Innes