This research study is concerned with the activity of ceramic residence centres. An area of art practice which exists both as a separate field as well as one within a burgeoning and wider sphere of international artist residence centres. This wider field is recognisable by its recent and rapid expansion providing new possibilities which have become a fundamental part of the working practice of visual artists of all denominations. The impact of leading ceramic residence centres such as the European Ceramic Workcentre (EKWC) in the Netherlands affects inherent working practices, work produced, cultural exchange, individual mobility, as well as innovation and the concept of how the ceramic medium can be used. This study provides a discussion of practice and its development at the EKWC as well as an understanding of comparable work carried out in the divergent cultural backdrops of the Northern Clay Center (USA), Yuegi Kiln Workcentre (P.R. China) and FLlCAM (P.R China). Theoretical evidence concerning these ceramic centres is complemented by my own practice at each facility which has taken place both during and before commencement of this research. Imagery associated with this evidence provides a visual expression of practice, the resulting artefacts, and a contextual perspective of the individual ceramic centres. The balance of understanding in this research finds that within this developing, international and cross-cultural field the EKWC plays a significant role in advances technically and for the expanded possibilities and understandings of ceramic as a creative medium. This study describes how this has been achieved and provides an appreciation of the extended potentials of good practice for ceramics in the context of the residence and workcentre fields.