Sam Hall was born in West Yorkshire. He studied ceramics at Harrogate and Loughborough Colleges and now lives in West Cornwall. Sam has been making work for nearly three decades and is known for his flattened cylindrical forms, which act as a canvas for his painterly marks and glazes. For many years he worked at the renowned Gaolyard Studios in St. Ives and is now based at his private studio in the coastal town of Hayle. He exhibits in the UK and internationally.
Sam’s non-functional vessels are hand thrown on the wheel before being carefully shaped into flattened, cylindrical forms. Using slips, oxides and glazes, he embellishes the surface of each piece in a painterly and intuitive way, often applying numerous layers and firing a work many times. Bringing drawing and form together, and blurring the definitions of painting and contemporary craft, he uses lines, brush marks and the inclusion of random words to create vessels with a uniquely beautiful and descriptive quality.