About
Hello
My first experience of ceramics was as a teenager accompanying my Mum to an evening class at a local Further Education College. It was a hobby class and we had a go at most techniques. I naturally gravitated towards hand building. My fondest memories are spending time with Mum, just the two of us. Neither of us showed particular talent but we thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. I lost her in 2003 so it remains a very special memory and I often wonder what she would make of my ceramics now.
I did not touch clay for another 27 years. I returned in a rather roundabout way. I was attracted to a part-time college course, I was married and the first of my children was on his way. It was a City & Guilds Embroidery course. I just fell into the art and design world and loved it, I absorbed it all. After a while though it became clear that textiles probably wasn’t the best fit for me. So after a few years I booked myself on a taster ceramics course and as the saying goes, the rest is history. I had found my passion.
My Journey in Ceramics
I started a 12 week taster class at the local college. I wondered if I would remember anything and also whether I would enjoy working with clay again. I needn’t have worried I felt at home from the start. I did City & Guilds 1 & 2 . I started in Melton Mowbray and after that course closed I transferred to South Nottinghamshire College. As part of the course we covered all techniques but I was drawn to burnished surfaces, un-glazed pieces and when I was introduced to Raku I knew I had found my method.
I loved the instantaneous results, I liked the finish. I felt no affinity for shiny glazes, I felt that through naked raku (a resist technique) I could express my love of pattern
I spent 10 years perfecting my Raku technique but the first lockdown at the start of the Covid pandemic changed things. During the lockdown I was able to review my work and practice and I felt that I’d reached a position with Raku that I would find hard to develop further without major changes. I also realised I did not enjoy the technique as much as I had, so it really was back to the beginning again.
For the past 2 years I have tried to define what is important to me and once I had settled on those elements it was to develop a process to build and assemble new pieces of work.
Form, Texture, Colour, Pattern
I have been experimenting in creating different textures and have discovered that I enjoy creating pattern by combining different methods. So I use carving techniques, sgraffito, inlay, I carve plaster and press clay into it and I also make and add sprigs to my designs. I have also started to use colour, not in glazes but in the form of underglaze colours and oxides. I use them in a painterly way by brushing, sponging and spraying. I try to enhance the relief patterns with colour rather than hide it. All marks are celebrated! I am thoroughly enjoying my new (and unexpected) direction and cannot wait to see where it leads.