Richard Phethean is an established professional potter. Born in 1953 and a ceramics graduate of the Camberwell School of Arts and Crafts, he also trained in the studios of tutors Colin Pearson and Janice Tchalenko. He is a Fellow of the Craft Potters Association and is on the Crafts Council of Great Britain's Index of Selected Makers.

Richard Phethean's broad pottery teaching experience spans 25 years. He is a part-time member of staff on the Harrow degree course, and his speciality as a one-to-one tutor has attracted potters around the world for intensive training in his own studio. Two years spent working as a volunteer on a crafts project in the Papua New Guinea highlands led to a radical reappraisal of his work, and marked a return to classical vessel forms, a looser decorative style and a more sombre palette. Recent work reflects a fresh sense of optimism and signals a further move back to the essential spontaneity and warmth of functional pottery.