Derek always enjoyed the buzz of London and so running up regularly with his work for the galleries gives him an excuse to take in the exhibitions. One in particular, is in 1958, when he finally gets the chance to see one of his great loves, the work of the late Jackson Pollock, which is showing at the Whitechapel Gallery. Derek said ‘it was the most important influence on my work - an apocalypse - this exhibition turned everything on its head’.
Whether there is a direct connection with the exhibition or not, Derek starts exploring surface texture at this time, with a rare case of him actually leaving evidence of what he was thinking. It’s on a page of his logbook titled ‘Texture’, and is accompanied with little sketches, that show he is adding coal dust to slip and glazes, along with copper wire to the clay, the results of which can be seen on a tile and a vase that still survive.
Experimental texture tile
15 x 15 cm
Stoneware rolled, scratched & worked, with additions of copper wire and traces of black iron oxide and possibly coal dust. 1958
Thrown vase
18 x 11.5 cm
Stoneware with black iron stripes over white slip with coal dust and clear glaze. 1958
Ref: 99