In 2000, after completing an OND in studio ceramics at Bangor, Rik established his own studio, high in the mountains of Snowdonia. Unlike most potters, Rik only fires his ceramics once, overcoming technical difficulties to save of both fuel and time.

Rik has applied his scientific experience from his previous career to developing a diverse and colourful array of stoneware glazes. Thrown on a momentum wheel, the undulating surface of his pots allows the glazes break and pool. His hand built vases and sculptures twist and swell organically, suggesting movement or being reminiscent of natural forms. All his pots appear fiercely handmade. He once fires to high stoneware temperature in a 15 cu ft gas fired kiln.

Rik also runs workshops in the summer as ‘The Beaker People’s Stone Age Pottery’ where pots are built, usually from locally dug clay, and fired in a glorified Celtic clamp kiln, which will take various sculptural forms, dragons being the most popular.

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