LISA RINGWOOD  

(b. 1968 in Kwa Zulu Natal)

CURRENT WORK

BIOGRAPHY

Born Lisa Abrahams in 1968 in Kwa Zulu Natal. I started a lasting relationship with clay at the age of 7 when I had my first pottery lesson.  I attended a high school in Durban where there was a ceramics department as part of the Art School and my clay journey continued there. I Matriculated in 1986.

I did not complete my Fine Art studies at Natal Technikon and instead moved to Cape Town to UCT to study a BA in History of Art and Archaeology which I also never completed. The good news is I left in order to pursue my first love, which is ceramics.

I set up a studio in Observatory, Cape Town where through trial, error and waitressing I journeyed along a path which took me into the various disciplines of pottery.  I worked in a pioneering studio, The Potters Shop, that produced slip cast products. I painted and decorated plates for a production studio and taught pottery classes. In my own studio I made functional wheel thrown ceramics. I created a range of tin-glazed hand painted pottery - for which I received a Highly Commended at the Regional exhibition. I did a short apprenticeship with studio potter John Wilhelm, where I learnt wheel work and glazing techniques. I have participated in various workshops and am a member of CSA (ceramics southern Africa).

My work has evolved and progressed over the many years that I have been involved with clay. After having children, I decided not to return to the very time consuming art of painting onto raw glaze (tin-glazing).  I hoped to simplify my methods but instead my work became more detailed and labour intensive.

Most recently I have completed a mentorship programme with John Shirley and participated in exhibitions at the Kim Sacks Gallery, Kalk Bay Modern Gallery, Ebony, Knysna Fine Art Gallery and the Irma Stern Museum.  My work has appeared in various publications and is in collections in South Africa and around the world. 

I currently work from my studio in the seaside town of Kommetjie, Cape Town where I am inspired by the natural surroundings of birds, fynbos, mountains and the ocean.

NOTABLE EXHIBITIONS AND AWARDS

Woordfees Stellenbosch 2010

Kim Sacks Gallery JHB      2011

Kalk Bay Modern “Sculpture and Ceramics”   2012

Lutge Gallery   “Ceramics for the table” 2013

Irma Stern Gallery “4 women 4 journeys in clay” 2014

Ebony “Art In Clay”   2014

La Motte “Art in Clay” 2014

Knysna Fine Art Gallery “Whilst out walking” 2015

Lutge Gallery “Mercurial cats” 2015

Ebony “Art in Clay” 2015

Kalk Bay Modern “Sculpture and Ceramics” 2016

La Motte “Fragile Fynbos” 2015

Ebony “A Ramble of plates” 2016

La Motte “A sense of…” 2016

Kwa Zulu Natal Regional exhibition 2017

Kalk Bay Modern “Sculpture and Ceramics” 2017