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Lisbeth De La Cour

Lisbeth de la Cour grew up in Denmark surrounded and inspired by Scandinavian art and design. When Lisbeth’s children were young, she started attending evening classes in pottery, and describes how she ‘loved it so much’ that she has kept going ever since.

A few years ago she, and her husband Mike Strange, managed to build and set up a studio at the bottom of the garden, and a steep learning curve began.

Lisbeth’s love of ceramics is wide ranging and she will ‘have ago at throwing anything, working in any medium’. Her joy of colour is very evident, and is expressed especially in her Majolica ware.

 At the moment she is most excited by the texture of crank and rough unglazed surfaces, as well as, mixing textures.

‘The rough with the smooth, like a potter’s life’ laughs Lisbeth.

Mike Strange

Mike`s interest in art was stimulated at an early age through the enthusiasm of his father and uncle who were both good amateur artists. Although Mike`s academic background is in social science and he is still a part-time tutor in Sociology and Politics, his interest in art and ceramics  was rekindled in 1975 when he undertook Teachers Workshop Classes in Ceramics at St Albans College of Art and Design under the direction of Hugh Spenlove. After a year he was thoroughly hooked and he continued his studies at Hertfordshire University. Together with his wife Lisbeth De La Cour, who is also a potter, he constructed a Pottery Workshop in the grounds of their house in St Albans. Each Christmas they hold an annual sale of their hand thrown pottery on the last Friday Saturday and Sunday in November. The range of their work stretches from Traditional Stoneware to more colourful Majolica. They also exhibit their work at craft-fairs and local craft shops.

Mike and Lisbeth enjoy camping in wild locations like Brittany and Cornwall and some of the inspiration for their work comes from the colourful sub-tropical beauty of the flora and fauna viewed against the sea and cliffs and fishing villages of these special places. Mike, in particular, is influenced by the bright colours which can be achieved by the use of majolica glaze and decorates his bowls with vivid paintings of fruit, flowers, boats fish, and other images which express his love of the sea and countryside.