The Studio

Working from a small studio at home in rural Oxfordshire my work is filled with the colours and textures of garden blooms, the honey-grey stone of our house and the ever changing hues of the meadows on our doorstep.

 

My Backround

I have always had my hands in mud.  It is one of my favourite things in the whole world, that and Chorizo. 

Growing up in the rolling hills of Devon, surrounded by trees and rivers, sea and tors these natural landscapes seep into my work. 

I first got my fingers dirty with clay in secondary school, where I was lucky enough to have access to a ceramics studio for my A-levels.  School breaks were passed trying to tame the potters wheel at varying degrees of success.

University and jobs followed, creativity taking a backseat to the earning power of a corporate job.  Travels were made far and wide, seeking out stunning landscapes, kaleidoscopic temples and steaming street food. 

Then came a turning point, a brief chance to quit the rat race and start afresh.  With the arrival of a beautiful baby boy came many busy days, but some brief quiet times to start playing again with clay.

Playing has finally become my work (when not being a full time mum to our children) Finding new and exciting forms, colours and textures, combining and freely following my lifelong loves.

 

 

Process

I work with a variety of stoneware and porcelain clays, picking the material to match the nature of the form I will work on. 

The majority of my work is handbuilt, using slabs, pinchpots and coils to create gently undulating pieces that match the natural textures that I seek.

I love texture and bring this into my work in surface decoration, printing with foraged flowers and grasses and adding rough marks to my dark moody grey clay.

 

I use a leach kick-wheel for thrown wares, this is a wheel fully powered just from the motion of my foot kicking the wheel into motion.  It's a beautiful way to work, and creates a motion in the clay that isn't given when working with electric.