Andrew Hazelden has been making ceramics since the 1980s. Hazelden worked with Alan Caiger-Smith and the Aldermaston Pottery, Berkshire, from 1984 until their building was sold in 2006. The following year, Hazelden opened his own pottery in Oxfordshire, making his own tin-glazed earthenware.
Hazelden learned the techniques of tin-glazing and reduction-fired lustre at Aldermaston. Using a blend of Italian Duruta and a Spencroft clay, Hazelden hand-paints oxides onto the tin glaze in the maiolica tradition. The process dates back to 9th century Persia, though it spread to Europe and became popular in England in the 18th century. A variety of colours can be achieved by using natural pigments over the white body before a second firing.
