Keith has been awarded a Doctor of Arts (DArt) by Robert Gordon University – presented at P&J Live in Aberdeen on Friday 4 July 2025, and we’re absolutely chuffed to bits. Truly. If you want the official details, RGU have done a proper write-up on the Robert Brown University Website
Keith’s path to this has never been flashy, just honest: London lad, first pot at 11, found a kind of peace in clay and never really looked back (well, there was a brief spell as the lead singer of a punk band, which still makes me smile). He apprenticed at Harefield Pottery, learned by doing, and he’s kept that “less is more” thing close ever since. It shows up in the work people know from his pieces for Conran, Barneys New York, Habitat, Monsoon, Laura Ashley, Heal’s… quiet, thoughtful, made to be lived with.
He’s lived with dyslexia since childhood, only diagnosed properly later on. He feels words as shapes, weight, balance… and that’s where the Word Range of ceramics came from. It’s Keith all over: turn the thing everyone worries about into something gentle and useful.
The university said some very kind things about him… about empathy, encouragement, the way he gives feedback. We see that in him every day, but it’s lovely when someone else notices. If you’ve watched The Great Pottery Throw Down, you’ll know what they mean. People blossom when they’re seen & noticed. That’s his real trick.
RGU’s connection to the show goes back a bit too: AJ Simpson (an RGU grad) won in 2022, and Matthew Wilcock, who won the first series, has been lecturing at Gray’s School of Art since 2017. Feels right, really – craft, teaching, care, & everyone pulling in the same direction.
He’s still juggling a dozen things: Head of Design at MAKE International, potting for his own collection, collaborating here and abroad, and squeezing in life and laughter with Marj while filming Our Welsh Chapel Dream. If you fancy a longer read, his book Boy in a China Shop: Life, Clay and Everything Else tells the story better than I can.
Anyway, that’s the news – just a little humble brag for a man who keeps showing up for his craft and for people. The kiln’s on, the mugs are drying, and there’s a new Doctor of Arts in the studio. We’re proud as punch.