Bayer is best known for protracted wood firing. The alchemy is unique, derived from locally sourced elements. His large garden pots are impressive and beautiful. Domestic wares, and smaller pieces beautifully formed and refined through their extended union with heat and ash, typically using a wood-fired, cross-draught, single-chamber
800 cu.ft. kiln, now retired and based Devon, with much of his work held in major collections across the world.
He was born of Swedish parents in Uganda in 1946, and came to England when he was sixteen. He studied at Exeter University from 1965 to 1968 and started working with Michael Cardew at Wenford Bridge in 1969. In 1972 he joined the Brannam Pottery where he worked as a thrower for a year. After travelling in the Far East, Asia and the U.S.A. seeking out large scale wood fired kilns, he set up his workshop in Devon.
His work is sometimes plain, sometimes boldly decorated, always compelling and energising.