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 about Juan Victor Cobos 

Origins

I was born in London, and moved to Caracas, Venezuela (where my parents are from) when I was a toddler.  From the age of 11 my family to the city of Merida in the Venezuelan Andes. Merida lies between two mountain sierras which provides a spectacular backdrop of snow-capped mountains.

Inspired by the mountains and the local artists, I developed a passion for the visual arts, especially ceramics, and at an early age I created my own studio and started to make my own ceramics, mainly small clay houses which resembled the local colonial architecture. Unfortunately, I stopped making them when I went to University, where I gained a degree in Systems Engineering and I have been working in I.T. ever since. Now after more than 20 years I am reactivating my deep passion for ceramics and have begun to create stoneware pottery using contemporary materials and techniques.

I  opened a ceramic studio at inter-action (http://www.interactionmk.org.uk) Milton Keynes (in 2014) where I became one of the resident artists and after its reorganisation in 2015 I decided to convert the garage of my new house into a studio. Where I continued creating ceramics.

A variety of my pieces are inspired by Japanese pottery (specially teapots) and the colours  found  in the natural landscape of the Venezuelan national park "La Gran Sabana". The glazes and textures are especially inspired by those colours found at the top of the beautiful Mount Roraima. I have also found inspiration in my recent travels to nature and beaches such as the ones in Boa Vista which it is part of Cape Verde Islands

Roraima is one the mountains in the “Gran Sabana” National park located in the south of Venezuela close to the border with Brazil. These mountains are called Tepuys by the pemon (native people of the region) and are recognised by their distinctive table shape

Visiting this unique place had such an impact on me that I named my ceramic business in its honour ("Roraima Ceramics”)

Inspiration
Roraima
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