There is no limit to the creativity and talent in West Bay and following on from artist Philip Sutton RA, we met a local potter.

Nestled in George Street is where you will find Richard Wilson making beautiful ceramics in his workshop.

He has been making pots since the early 1970s. He went to art college in Yarmouth and worked in a pottery before travelling to Australia, New Zealand and Germany after meeting lots of other craftsmen and becoming inspired by what they were doing.

"This gave me the opportunity to start travelling and take the skill I had and just go and explore the world a bit and find out what ceramics is like on a worldwide cultural level," he said.

"The craft of making and decorating, there's so many possibilities, and the cultural influence it has on countries, the way they use ceramics, the way they decorate it, why they have decorated it that way – that really interested me."

He worked near Heidelberg in Germany for around five years which was completely different to when he initially trained, big production of domestic ware.

He said: "The way it was sold was very much handmade work on a table.

"A lot of art these days, whether its glass or ceramics, is very much design led rather than just function, it becomes a lot more individual.

"I think people are buying – whether its paintings or glass, ceramics or sculpture – a statement to their lifestyle. You'll find people buy things because it suits their interior."

Richard returned to England, got married and found a workshop in Abbotsbury, which gave him a foot in the door for establishing his own pieces.

"I had always worked for other people before that," he said. "Trying to set up on your own is a whole different ball game – you start small and build up.

"Quite a few people know us, I get a lot of repeat customers."

Recently, a couple were visiting West Bay when they saw his sign at the top of the road.

Richard added: "They had brought from us at an exhibition in Essex a couple of years ago so they knew my work. Those sorts of things happen quite often."

Richard makes a range of bowls, teapots, vases, dishes and more.

He said: "I split the production between functional and non-functional. Things that you can put something in – a vase, bowl or mug – I regard as decorative tableware but I have tried to move away and do more sculpture pieces, mainly because I like playing with flat surfaces, they are better to decorate."

Richard has a distinctive, personal style with bold colours, shapes and outlines.

Of his style, Richard said: "Originally it came from looking at old European slipware, especially from Eastern Europe. When I was in Germany I headed over to Hungary and found some really nice, old Romanian folk plates and I liked that whole way of decorating. There was a simplicity, painting on pots rather than using glazes as a finished colour. I liked the way they decorated. That was a reason for going down that route but I found my own style. I liked impressionist art and I like abstract art, all of those things you pick up as you go along.

"The decoration is really a response to seeing the pot as a canvas and not limiting it to traditional ideas of just having a pattern in the middle and then repeat it. Look at the pots as a form and building abstract ideas around it.

"There is a theme in that I use similar colours but I don't repeat the idea, I play around with it, especially as I use different shapes of brushes.

"I quite like making bowls, it's the elegance of the bowl, you have the foot at the bottom that lifts the bowl off the table – the shape has a natural spring to it."

Richard's ceramics can be found in many other galleries, including in London, the Midlands and Scotland and has also featured on the Isle of Arran.

As a member of several pottery associations, including Professional Member of the Craft Potters Association and ex-chairman of the west Country Potters Association, he has been selected over the years for many ceramic fairs here in England and in Europe.

Visit Richard Wilson Ceramics in George Street, West Bay, and to find out more, visit his website.