Melissa Laurence and Anne Dalton will be exhibiting together at the Greenham Common Control Tower during the first week of Open Studios 2024.

Anne Dalton has always enjoyed creating designs inspired by the natural world and during the first lockdown began to experiment with embossing those designs onto clay slabs. A year later she started to create thrown pieces on the wheel and is currently exploring ways to incorporate her designs onto functional plates and bowls.
Anne's new-found love of throwing has led to a fascination with the different forms that can be created on the wheel. She is enjoying making small stoppered pots that can be easily cupped in the hand so that the smoothness of the glazed areas readily contrasts with the texture of the fired clay. The small pots are growing in size and the stoppers have become more elaborate lids.

This is Melissa Laurence's third year with Open Studios. After moving here from Australia nearly 5 years ago, Melissa reignited her passion for painting after attending one art class. Kicking her family out of the dining room, Melissa has taken it over with brightly coloured tubes of oil paints, overflowing pots of paintbrushes and vibrant floral paintings hanging on every wall. This year has been a big year for Melissa, trading her past role of classroom teacher for full-time artist. In September, Melissa was selected from a pool of 1500 very talented artists to exhibit her work in the prestigious 'Sophie Tea' Gallery in Soho, London. She has since signed on as an artist for another gallery and has two upcoming solo shows planned for 2024. Melissa combines her passion of teaching and love for children, by running weekly children's art classes. She is so proud of the work they have done that she has asked them to exhibit alongside her this year.