Sutton Taylor was born in Yorkshire. He trained as a teacher and worked in Manchester before travelling throughout Central America, Mexico and the USA. In 1970 he returned to Yorkshire, where he began to experiment with raku, and went on to develop the ancient Asian technique of lustre, which provides an iridescent metallic glaze.

Taylor first exhibited in 1976 in Leeds, then more widely. He was the joint winner of the Grand Prix de la Ville de Vallauris 9th Biennale in 1984. His pots have been displayed at the Victoria & Albert Museum. He has become a widely respected ceramicist whose work is held in public and corporate collections worldwide.

He uses the landscape as inspiration for his work, and lives in Cornwall.