A world-renowned Rhayader potter and “one of the giants of UK ceramics” has died.

Phil Rogers, who was born in 1951, died after a short illness at his home on 22 December.

Mr Rogers moved to Rhayader in 1977 to open his first workshop. Prior to this, Mr Rogers attended Newport and Swansea College of Art and, after graduating, spent five years as an art and pottery teacher in secondary schools.

In 1984, Mr Rogers moved to Lower Cefnfaes, a 15th century farmhouse and buildings, half a mile outside of Rhayader, giving him the “space he needed to expand the pottery and to build a variety of large kilns”.

Mr Rogers’ was a world-renowned potter and, through his hands-on championing of pottery charities, trusts and worldwide lecturing programme, enabled others to embark on their own journey in this field.

He exhibited, lectured and mentored from Korea to the USA, and was always an impeccable advocate of both his craft and his country.

He worked tirelessly both on a personal level and through the craft trusts he chaired and served to promote both ceramics and the preservation of craft skills.

Mr Rogers’ international reputation and standing enabled him to selflessly and tirelessly help other British potters to show abroad; assisting Lisa Hammond MBE, Mike Dodd, Doug Fitch, Svend Bayer et al to secure exhibitions for themselves in places like the St Ives Gallery in Tokyo and Schaller Gallery in the USA.

Mr Rogers changed the way in which British pottery is viewed in the United States through his book on ash glazes, which sold in huge numbers and helped to open up the American market for British potters.

Mike Goldmark, founder of Goldmark gallery where Mr Rogers exhibited his work for over 20 years, said: “Phil Rogers was the first potter we ever showed at Goldmark and he always gave his time and expertise freely with a generosity of spirit which speaks to his great passion and love of ceramics.

“He selflessly and tirelessly went the extra mile for the promotion of his craft and for others.

“When I had my own heart attack two decades ago I was lying, tethered and triangulated in intensive care, bleak and despondent. At my bedside my wife, Fiona, took my favourite Phil Rogers’s pot from her handbag and transferred the water from the hospital plastic beaker to Phil’s pot. As she held it to my lips it reminded me to stay alive.

“His death leaves a huge hole in both my heart and in the landscape of British ceramics.”

Master Korean potter Kang Hyo Lee added: “There was perhaps no other figure more dedicated to the cultural exchange between Korean and British ceramic art in the last 20 years.”