Peter Holland is a full-time clay artist from the U.K. and has been creating clay sculptures for over 20 years. He has been commissioned by Royal Worcester, Wedgwood, Coalport and Royal Doulton to create figures which they have then put into production. Holland did not start out in a career in clay, however. He was a National Accounts Sales Manager for one company before switching into the role of buyer for Liberty of London.
With no background or formal training in clay, how did you come to work in clay?
I saw one of the 'clever' kids at school do an amazing ceramic sculpture of a man sitting on a bench with a dog. I thought "Hmm that clay sculpting looks fun, I could do that". Then I ran off to play football with my mates, discovered girls, went to Uni [university], got a job, and before I knew it I was 28 and had done no ceramic sculpture at all. So I went on a short ceramic art course and made a pot - that was my first hands-on experience with clay, so you could say I began as a potter.I liked the sculptural element of clay and sculpted a bas-relief of a rose to put on the side of my pot. I was hooked from that moment. To develop the figurine sculpting side of it, I went to clay modeling night classes for one term. The teacher (who had worked for Heredities)...urged me to approach some big companies to do clay original sculptures for them. So I did just that.
