14/10/2026
Introducing M.J. Holmes at Sienna Gallery
Some of the best things happen unexpectedly. M.J. Holmes walked into the gallery after a stroll along the beach, and by the end of the day we’d agreed to show his work. This is his very first time showing his work, and we’re thrilled!
M.J. began potting almost by accident after watching a friend throw on the wheel at Ripon College. Thirty years on, with an apprenticeship under Colin Kellam, bone china design at Dunoon and five years lecturing in Finland behind him, he now works from a small workshop in Torre, just up the road from us.
Working in the Leach tradition, he blends the warmth of English slipware with the restraint of Oriental stoneware, coaxing the textures of South Devon’s cliffs and beaches out of the clay. His tea bowls and teapots are made in oxidised red stoneware, with wooden handles turned by Stephen Main of Kingskerswell.
He calls himself a “pottery-maker” rather than a potter. We call the work beautiful. Come and see it at 90 Belgrave Road, Torquay.
