The Heather Jansch Studio Award is in memory of Heather Jansch (1948 – 2021), a renowned artist who specialised in sculpting horses from driftwood and bronze. From the early days, Heather was an enthusiastic participant and supporter of Devon Open Studios. Her life-size sculptures are now held in collections around the world.
The award seeks to recognise a studio that is welcoming and friendly to visitors.
Appreciating that the judging of such a studio is not easy – with many different factors at play – this year, we are opening up the selection process to Devon Open Studios visitors.
Each year the recipient of the prize is awarded a sculpture by Heather Jansch – a small bronze horse head modelled on her own horse, RaRa. In addition, the winning artist / studio will receive publicity that recognises their contribution to arts.
The sculpture was kindly donated by Heather’s family and is kept for one year before passing on to the next awardee.
We will announce the Studio/venue who has received the highest number of nominations once Devon Open Studios has closed.
Heather is a genius with an eye for nature that in another generation would have seen her burnt as a witch; now she is rightly considered one of our country’s finest artists. If you were to ask the visitors to Eden, ‘What is your favourite work here?’ it would be the horse, and we gave the entrance to our kingdom to this horse. Richard III, see it and weep.
Tim Smit, KBE.,
(Founder of the Eden Project, UK)
Ceramicist Georgia Buck won the Heather Jansch Award for the most welcoming Devon Open Studios venue in 2024.
Georgia is based in Plymouth where she designs and makes stylish functional tableware. Her current designs feature colourful brush strokes, and she’s been experimenting with processes and finishes to create the exact effect she wants. Georgia intentionally leaves marks from her throwing and some evidence of the tools she’s used in making so that her pots show traces of the person who made them.