Biography & Awards
From age of 14 I decided I wanted to be fashion designer, and determined to go to St Martin's, which I did! I specialised in knitwear design and combined woven and knitted fabrics for my degree collection. After college I had great opportunity to work with Missoni in Italy, followed by designer Bill Gibb, (the influential 70's fashion designer), London, and subsequently worked in Hong Kong and New York as a knitwear designer.
My wonderful education at St Martin's and then my career in fashion and knitted textile design, influences my work in ceramics today. The principles of art and design are the same, it's only the media that is different.
After a fascination for ceramics, contemporary and historical, since I was an art student, I launched my ceramics business in 2007. I have gradually built up a sustainable market for my work and developed my own style and a new way to approach ceramic art. I feel chuffed and proud that my work hangs in homes in countries across the world from the American continent to Australia.
I was delighted to supply Liberty's of London for two years with my Market Box collection, and really felt I was achieving things when I won the Craft&Design Selected Magazine Gold award in 2016.
Winner 'Gold Award for Ceramics' Craft&Design Magazine April 2016, Read Judge's comments : Peter Moss, Fellow of Society of Designer Craftsmen.
Winner 'Best use of Colour', London Potters@Morley Gallery 2014
Winner 'Best Hand Built Piece', London Potters @Morley Gallery 2012
Winner 'The Fletcher Prize 2012' Oxfordshire Craft Guild Exhibition at Oxford Museum , Woodstock. My ceramic sculpture 'Salted fish from Barcelona market' is now part of Oxfordshire Museum's permanent Contemporary Craft Collection
Winner of Dacorum & Chilterns Potters Guild, 2012
Moncrieff Bray Gallery, West Sussex . Exhibited since 2012 at their Summer and Autumn/Christmas exhibitions
Scotlandart Gallery Glasgow - work included in their regular exhibitions throughout the year
Burford Garden Company - Burford, Cotswolds
Ashmolean Museum shop
Handmade in Britain Online shop
Exhibited at the following Ceramics and Art Fairs
London Potters, various exhibitions at Morley Gallery , Waterloo and The Barbican Library
The Oxford Ceramics Fair , St Edwards School, October 2015 & 2017
Handmade in Britain Craft and design Fair , Chelsea Town Hall , Kings Road, London 2016
Handmade in Britain Craft and Design Fair May 2018
Handmade in Britain Craft & Design Fair, Waterperry, Oxfordshire 2019
Celebrating Ceramics, Waterperry, Oxfordshire 2022
Facebook : DianaTonnisonCeramics
Instagram: diana_tonnison_ceramics
Pinterest UK: dianatonnison
Elspeth Bray, Moncrieff-Bray Gallery writes:
'Diana Tonnison has exhibited her ceramic boxes with the Moncrieff-Bray Gallery for the past five years, each exhibition has been as been a sell out and her work has gone as far afield as Greece, France and the USA. For one client she has done an installation of eight fish boxes, the fish specially selected to suit the client whose wife had connections with the fishery industry. She has now moved into a new medium with her handmade and printed wood panels, these are made according to a unique process entirely developed by her. Diana's work is in high demand celebrated for its wonderful palette she effectively paints in ceramic, and her ability to convey the rich textures and colours of her fish and vegetable world.' April 2016