Janet Leach

After studying pottery at Black Mountain, North Carolina under Shoji Hamada, a visiting artisan, she traveled to Japan to work with him.

After returning to the US from Japan, in 1955 she married Bernard Leach, the noted British studio potter, whom she had earlier studied with.

Janet Leach continued to be influenced by Japanese aesthetics in her pottery and ceramics, and her work has increased in popularity.

Darnell spent a great deal of time with Bernard Leach and eventually they agreed to marry, initially intending to live in Japan.

In return her own work was not always valued within the St Ives Studio; much of it lay hidden for many years.