In 1977 the Duchess of Portland set up the Harley Foundation, designating a number of buildings on the Welbeck Estate for conversion 'to encourage creativity in all of us and to ensure the continuation of specialist hand-skill: in an age of mass production'. Awarded for architecture and tourism, the site now has artists' studios, a garden centre, farm shop, cafe and the Hark Gallery, containing the Portland Treasury, a craft shop and several discrete exhibition areas. Upstairs in a medium sized room lit from above by natural light is Kyra Cane's latest exhibition. There are four very large pots; each called Huge Bas the largest measuring 43x35crn. They are spectacular things; soft, sugary creamy-white glaze at the top and inside and dark inky blue/black pigme brushed over and reacting with the glaze, low on the outside. Thick rich rolling surfaces are like cloudscapes or foaming spume with the darker areas addit a blurred graphic suggestion of landscape. Wavy, thrown cylinders, thin rin slightly altered, sides indented, feature exaggerated throwing rings holdin the glaze in thicker suspension and adding parallels of shadow.
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