About Ted Secombe
Ted and his wife Ann live in a beautiful part of the Yarra Valley at Dixons Creek in Victoria, Australia, where they have an accommodation studio and a gallery for viewing his competed works. Yu can visit his gallery and workshop by appointment or when he is participating in annual open studio events.
Ted Secombe’s work has been exhibited throughout Australia, Japan, India, Thailand, Singapore, USA, UK, and New Zealand. In 2001 he was invited to show a selection of pots in an exhibition of the world’s top ten crystalline glaze technologists in Leewarden, Holland and his pots received great acclaim. In 2014 he was invited to Delhi, India to conduct workshops and be part of a group International exhibition and was invited back again in 2019 to have a solo exhibition and conduct workshops. Ted’s work in in many public and private collections worldwide and he has received commissions to produce large ceramics works for corporations, hotel and shopping centres in Australia, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Abu Dhabi, Hong Kong and Shanghai.
Ted likes to work with different shapes and now prefers much simpler forms, forms with the sense of an easy curve, ‘like a brush stroke’. ‘My inspiration comes when the clay is on the wheel and I am looking at the sensuousness of the curve,’ he says. Sometimes he is influenced by the structure of plants and leaves. Ted’s other passion is gardening, and he has created a glorious garden around his studio.
Ted is a member of the IAC - International Academy of Ceramics
Artist Statement
My current work has emanated from my experiences exhibiting in Japan and India. In both countries, I was overwhelmed by the beauty and visual feast offered by their textiles. The mastery of design coupled with an innate ability to blend and match colour drawn from a long history of involvement with process has influenced my glaze palette.
The division of colour on many of the works are a direct reference to the Japanese Kimono. The broad colour spectrum used, finds its influence in the bazaars of India.
The methods for producing the works are very detailed using multi layering of colour similar to the textile processes of Asia.
My work has evolved from experience and mastery of technique refined over a forty-year career. My passion for clay is still as strong as when I began despite the medium being incredibly frustrating at times.
Ted Secombe
Ted's Crystalline Glazes
Ted is known for his beautiful and graceful forms, with glazes, including crystalline, that are rich in colour, and delicate in texture and patterning. He is constantly experimenting and developing his glazes, some of which are reminiscent of ancient Chinese glazes.
Ted's Crystalline Glazing Process
Crystalline glazes are among the most fascinating in the ceramic world. A crystalline glaze is characterised by clusters of various shapes and colours embedded into an otherwise uniform glaze of zinc or barium. This unpredictable process requires a slow cooling for the development of the crystals and a great deal of skill from the artist. Through his persistence with the technique, Ted Secombe has become one of world’s finest practitioners. One can both see as well as feel the structure of the crystals on the surface of his vessels.
Crystalline is expensive to produce. It is labour intensive, demanding great skill and precise control of materials and processes. It is one of the most challenging techniques a potter can undertake. Metallic oxides and combinations of various materials are used to produce a wide range of colours. These range from dark cobalt blues through to golds, browns, reds, pinks, pearls and greens.
Crystalline glazes require careful application and are fired to temperatures of 1320 C for up to 18 hours. The glaze becomes very fluid at high temperatures and has the tendency to flow from the surface of the pot. Ted has over the years learned to control this glaze fluidity so each piece has a consistent cover of crystals.
Once the high temperature has been reached, the kiln is rapidly cooled to lower temperatures where the crystals form. As crystal formation requires slow cooling, temperatures are precisely controlled and manipulated for maximum crystal growth within the glaze.
Crystals are formed at random, can take on a myriad of shapes and are three dimensional in nature. The beauty, depth and life expressed in a Crystalline glaze is spectacular and unsurpassed. It is a challenge to even the most experienced and knowledgeable potter.