	Susan HALLS Dates: 1966- Was born in Gillingham, Kent. She is best known for her representations of animals. She trained at Medway College of Art, (1984-1988) and the Royal College of Art (1988-1990). Since childhood, she has been obsessed and curious about animals and their character and she drew, painted and modelled them. Her animal sculptures convey 'a kind of animal truth' rather than the mere appearance of things. Dogs, horses, cats and monkeys are of major interest although she is interested in many other species. All ceramic techniques fascinate her and she uses whatever process best suits the subject to express and develop the form, which is sometimes abstracted to suggest only a minimum reference to the animal. She uses paperclay mixed with nylon fibre. Occasionally pieces are fired at stoneware temperatures but most are low fired by low-technology techniques: sawdust, smoke or wood firing. The animal sculptures incorporate metal elements such as nails and steel pieces. She has also made large sculptural shoe forms and dinosaurs. Susan Halls has completed a number of public commissions in Britain and she was awarded a Designers Guild Scholarship to study petrified remains at Herculaneum and Pompeii in Italy (1989). With the help of a Crafts Council Setting Up Grant and established a studio in London in 1990. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions in Britain, Europe and Japan and is in public collections in Britain and the US. She has also been a visiting tutor at a number of colleges of art. She had a six-month residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada (1991) and attended the International Ceramics Studio at Kecskemet in Hungary (1996). She was a guest demonstrator at the International Potters Festival, Aberystwyth (1997).

Susan HALLS

Dates: 1966-

Was born in Gillingham, Kent. She is best known for her representations of animals. She trained at Medway College of Art, (1984-1988) and the Royal College of Art (1988-1990).

Since childhood, she has been obsessed and curious about animals and their character and she drew, painted and modelled them. Her animal sculptures convey 'a kind of animal truth' rather than the mere appearance of things. Dogs, horses, cats and monkeys are of major interest although she is interested in many other species. All ceramic techniques fascinate her and she uses whatever process best suits the subject to express and develop the form, which is sometimes abstracted to suggest only a minimum reference to the animal. She uses paperclay mixed with nylon fibre. Occasionally pieces are fired at stoneware temperatures but most are low fired by low-technology techniques: sawdust, smoke or wood firing. The animal sculptures incorporate metal elements such as nails and steel pieces. She has also made large sculptural shoe forms and dinosaurs.

Susan Halls has completed a number of public commissions in Britain and she was awarded a Designers Guild Scholarship to study petrified remains at Herculaneum and Pompeii in Italy (1989). With the help of a Crafts Council Setting Up Grant and established a studio in London in 1990. Her work has been shown in group exhibitions in Britain, Europe and Japan and is in public collections in Britain and the US. She has also been a visiting tutor at a number of colleges of art. She had a six-month residency at the Banff Centre for the Arts in Alberta, Canada (1991) and attended the International Ceramics Studio at Kecskemet in Hungary (1996). She was a guest demonstrator at the International Potters Festival, Aberystwyth (1997).