Greetings and welcome to my website

Phoenix_Studio_James_Ort_clay_animalsf02My name is James and I'm a ceramic and wire artist, as well as a tutor.  I make animal sculptures and teach others how to do it too. It's what I do and I can't imagine doing anything else.

As well as being an artist I also run The Phoenix Studio in Towersey, near Thame - there's always something inspiring going on here, and it's a wonderful place to create.

I hope you enjoy my art and that my words inspire you to get creative too - there really is nothing like it!

Come and learn with me

I teach my technique from the Phoenix Studio. Find out more and sign up for a weekend course now!
Find out more

How to contact me

Address: The Phoenix Studio, Chinnor Road, Towersey, Thame, Oxfordshire, OX9 3QZ
Phone: 0776 598 0508
Email: james@orts.co.uk

My personal Instagram feed

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A sneak peek of my latest creation. I realised that the yellow eyes of the pelican and my yellow fisherman’s beanie complimented each other rather nicely. It made me think this pelican could well be my Daemon! So who’s been watching @philippullmanofficial’s #hisdarkmaterials on the Beeb? What do you think? What would your Daemons be? I’m practically obsessed with the books – I’ve finished the Secret Commonwealth started the original trilogy again again and am enjoying the @thedarkmaterialpodcast
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In the old days students would give their tutors an apple. Not any more it seems… slugs are where it’s at! Thank you @sarabudzikmaking for giving me my very own ceramic slug. I love him! I can’t wait to see the cats she made on our course come out if the kiln! . . . #slugs #slug #underglazing #clay #ceramics #clayanimals #ceramicanimals #claysculpture @phoenixstudiotowersey @james.ort @alisonpinkcreatures #oxfordshire #buckinghamshire #phoenixstudiotowersey #phoenixstudio #studiolife #creativi
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The last clay animal weekend of 2019 taught by @alisonpinkcreatures and I and it was a corker! Our artists made an astonishingly good array of pieces and really understood the technique. They’ll be coming back to glaze them soon too. More of these sell-out courses are planned for 2020 with details on the @phoenixstudiotowersey and my personal website in case you’re interested. Roll on 2020! . . #clay #ceramics #clayanimals #ceramicanimals #claysculpture @phoenixstudiotowersey @james.ort @alisonp
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Jumping in late on the first day of the #inktober bandwagon here’s my contribution. The day’s theme is ‘ring’. I’d been watching a magpie raiding the chicken feed today and so the two things came together in this 20 min doodle. Do they actually steal shiny objects? I just googled it and it turns out they don’t! #fakenews . I discovered a fountain pen in my drawer the other day. I remember learning to write with one when in primary school. I couldn’t resist using it tonight. . . #inktober2019 #ma
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Toby my studio buddy the other day. What a dude! #bostonterrier #dogsofinstagram
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Photos from the Phoenix Studio Instagram

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My latest blog posts

New techniques, new sculptures

As some of you may have heard I’m taking a step back from clay this year to focus on other materials – namely wire and metal. I still love ceramics […]

The Drawing Circus in Towersey

Phew – where do I start?! The Drawing Circus 2018 was a massive success and we loved every minute. Some memories of the weekend: the quiet sounds of pencils scratching, […]

The life drawing event of the summer… are you coming?

This summer we’re teaming up with the finest troupe of performers, models and musicians Brighton has to offer and putting on a fantastic weekend of life drawing at the studio. […]

Lights, Camera, art in Action!

In my previous blog post I talked about the journey to Art in Action (AiA) – the hurdles I overcame with the help of loved ones and how the stage […]

The long, windy and (til now undocumented) road to Waterperry!

Whilst the last few months before AiA didn’t play out quite like Gaby Turner’s wonderful poem predicted, in many ways it was not too far off the mark. Procrastination, late […]

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