Janet Leach
Encyclopedia
Janet Darnell Leach, was an American studio potter
working in later life at St Ives
, Cornwall
in England
. She was married in 1956 to Bernard Leach
, the famous British studio potter.
Janet Darnell was born in Grand Saline, Texas
, USA, in 1918. Her colourful early years involved moving to New York to work with sculptor Robert M. Cronbach and becoming involved with Federal Works Art Project. She was briefly married during Second World War and worked in a shipyard, undertaking welding.
Eventually she started work with clay and learned to use a potters wheel, coming to teaching pottery at mental health hospital in New York.
After meeting Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada
at Black Mountain College
, North Carolina
she gained Hamada's agreement to go and work with him at Mashiko and traveled there in 1958, by cargo boat. Janet spent a great deal of time with Bernard Leach and eventually they agreed to marry, initially intending to live in Japan. However with Bernard's son David Leach
leaving the Leach Pottery
to establish his own studio they returned to England.
Janet Leach's independent spirit ensured that her work was quite different to much of the Leach style. She never felt the need to pay reverence to her husbands work, and indeed could be openly critical of it. In return her own work was not always valued within the St Ives Studio and indeed much of it lay hidden for many years. Clearly influenced by the oriental style and form her work is free flowing and energetic.
Janet's work has grown in popularity in recent years, particularly helped by the 2006-7 Tate St Ives
retrospective.
Studio potter
A studio potter is one who is a modern artist, who either works alone or in a small group, producing unique items of pottery in small quantities, typically with all stages of manufacture carried out by themselves. Studio pottery includes functional wares such as tableware or cookware, and...
working in later life at St Ives
St Ives, Cornwall
St Ives is a seaside town, civil parish and port in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The town lies north of Penzance and west of Camborne on the coast of the Celtic Sea. In former times it was commercially dependent on fishing. The decline in fishing, however, caused a shift in commercial...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
in England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. She was married in 1956 to Bernard Leach
Bernard Leach
Bernard Howell Leach, CBE, CH , was a British studio potter and art teacher. He is regarded as the "Father of British studio pottery"-Biography:...
, the famous British studio potter.
Biography & Work
Grand Saline, Texas
Grand Saline is a city in Van Zandt County, Texas, United States, located in East Texas. The population is 3,262. Grand Saline is the third largest city in Van Zandt County and is a part of the Greater Tyler/Longview area...
, USA, in 1918. Her colourful early years involved moving to New York to work with sculptor Robert M. Cronbach and becoming involved with Federal Works Art Project. She was briefly married during Second World War and worked in a shipyard, undertaking welding.
Eventually she started work with clay and learned to use a potters wheel, coming to teaching pottery at mental health hospital in New York.
After meeting Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada
Shoji Hamada
was a Japanese potter. He was a significant influence on studio pottery of the twentieth century, and a major figure of the mingei folk-art movement, establishing the town of Mashiko as a world-renowned pottery centre.- Biography :...
at Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College
Black Mountain College, a school founded in 1933 in Black Mountain, North Carolina, was a new kind of college in the United States in which the study of art was seen to be central to a liberal arts education, and in which John Dewey's principles of education played a major role...
, North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
she gained Hamada's agreement to go and work with him at Mashiko and traveled there in 1958, by cargo boat. Janet spent a great deal of time with Bernard Leach and eventually they agreed to marry, initially intending to live in Japan. However with Bernard's son David Leach
David Leach (potter)
David Andrew Leach was an English studio potter and the eldest son of Bernard Leach and Muriel Hoyle Leach, Bernard's first wife....
leaving the Leach Pottery
Leach Pottery
The Leach Pottery was founded in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada in St Ives, Cornwall, in the United Kingdom.The buildings have grown from an old cow / tin-ore shed in the 19th century to a pottery in the 1920s when Hamada and Leach first attempted to construct a climbing kiln, this was the...
to establish his own studio they returned to England.
Janet Leach's independent spirit ensured that her work was quite different to much of the Leach style. She never felt the need to pay reverence to her husbands work, and indeed could be openly critical of it. In return her own work was not always valued within the St Ives Studio and indeed much of it lay hidden for many years. Clearly influenced by the oriental style and form her work is free flowing and energetic.
Janet's work has grown in popularity in recent years, particularly helped by the 2006-7 Tate St Ives
Tate St Ives
Tate St Ives is an art gallery in St Ives, Cornwall, England, exhibiting work by modern British artists, including work of the St Ives School. The three storey building, designed by architects Evans and Shalev, lies on the site of an old gas works, overlooking Porthmeor Beach. It was opened in...
retrospective.
Further Information
- Independent's Obituary by Emmanuel Cooper
- Article by Joanna Wason about Janet Leach
- TATE St Ives Retrospective Exhibition (2006-7)
- Janet Leach Biography at Aberystwyth University Ceramics Collection
- Article on Bernard Leach, includes photo of Janet & Bernard together
- Letters from Bernard & Janet Leach to Warren MacKenzie, includes draft article by Janet Leach