Ned Heywood, a ceramicist based in Chepstow, has been part of the Monmouthshire arts scene for over 40 years. He works in his gallery and workshop, a converted pub from the 1700s, with his work partner Julia Land, where they predominantly make blue plaques.
“I moved to Chepstow in 1983 when my partner, Anne Rainsbury, became the curator of Chepstow Museum,” says Ned. “I taught design and pottery for about 10 years, but when Anne got the job in Chepstow, it gave me the opportunity to leave teaching and set up my workshop and gallery.
“Me and Julia work together to make an ever-increasing number of plaques. Our clients include English Heritage, the new scheme for Historic England, City of London, Brighton and Hove and the Purple Plaques scheme for women in Wales. We make upwards of 70 plaques a year.
“I was approached by the Visual Arts Mapping Monmouthshire group (VAMM) in late 2023. They obviously knew of me through Anne as she’s now a curator at Monmouthshire Museum, but they also knew of me because I think when people ask about the arts in Chepstow, they mention my name.”
Alongside making ceramics, Ned has been an active member in the local makers’ community. He ran a gallery exhibiting other makers’ work for over 20 years, was chairman of the Chepstow Arts and Community Festival, chair of the committee for Chepstow Drill Hall arts and community venue and a producer of large scale community productions.
He gave a talk about his lifetime of work as part of VAMM’s Creative Drinks series: “My talk, ‘From potlets to plaques with the odd pub on the way’, went very well, and lots of people came along. It was lavishly illustrated with about 70 photographs that traced my work through the years, from teacher to monopoly supplier in a niche market. I’ve actually given it again elsewhere since, because someone in the audience who’d travelled to see it wanted me to take it to their local creative community too.”
Being amongst many other creatives from the area was enlightening for Ned:
It reinforced the feeling that visual arts need support. Everyone knows that cash is pretty tight to say the least, at the moment, so funding for such support just isn’t there. It’s very difficult.
People need to get together, cooperate and collaborate. I think the establishment of, say, a visual arts studio trail or an exhibition centre would be really good. Networking meetings with informative and inspiring speakers on business topics like marketing would be useful, too.
“For me, the real difference would be having some sort of help with organising direct sales events, like fairs. In my gallery, I might sell £100 of pots in a good week; however, if I sell at a big event that’s well advertised and attracts lots of people, I can sell £1000 of pots within two days. Chepstow itself has limited footfall, and almost everyone in Chepstow has one of my pots, so my customers here are visitors. We need direct assistance in cooperative marketing ventures so that people actually get the chance to sell their wares to lots of different people.
It has been great seeing what's been happening with Visual Arts Mapping Monmouthshire, and I’d love for something like it to continue. It would bring together visual artists to share their experiences and marketing opportunities, and we could increase public awareness of the industry by generating articles in the media and online content. I also think having one central person or a group to call on for support would make a huge difference.
“It's things like this that need to happen. I’m 76 now, and while I still get excitement and joy from my work, it takes up so much time and energy. I’ve been at the forefront of things like what is needed in the past, but we need more help and support now and going forward.”
