Ruthanne Tudball

Ruthanne Tudball (b. California, USA) is a British‑based studio potter renowned for her soda‑vapour glazed stoneware. Born and brought up in Southern California, she moved to England in 1968, where she later graduated from the University of Reading with a BA (Hons) in English Language and Literature and a Post Graduate Certificate in Education. Tudball initially taught herself to throw on the wheel before undertaking postgraduate study in ceramics at Goldsmiths’ College, University of London (1987–1989), where she conducted substantial research into soda glazing, graduating with a commendation. Her research led to the publication of the influential book Soda Glazing in 1995, one of the first comprehensive texts on the subject.

Since 1989, Tudball has worked full time from her studio, Temple Barn Pottery, in East Dereham, Norfolk, producing stoneware and some porcelain that is thrown, hand‑built and manipulated while wet to capture its organic qualities. Her work is slip‑decorated and soda‑vapour glazed in gas and wood‑fired kilns, a technique that emphasises the maker’s marks, the flow of flame and the interaction of vapour with the clay surface, rendering each piece unique.

Tudball’s ceramics are inspired by the natural world and the evolving landscape, and she regularly conducts workshops and demonstrations around the world. She is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association of Great Britain, an elected member of the International Academy of Ceramics, and a member of the Norfolk Contemporary Craft Society. Her work is held in major public collections including the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford; the Oxford Ceramics Collection; the University of Wales, Aberystwyth; the Adolf Egner Collection in Germany; and the Yingge County Ceramics Museum in Taipei, Taiwan.