ARTIST STATEMENT

Each creation is designed on paper with the aid of photos, sketches and reference material. Once the concept has been thought through, a method is decided upon. Vessels or sculpted shapes form the basis of my work, and I use coil, pinch pot or slab-built techniques.

Smoke Firing: For the past year I’ve been experimenting with smoke firing and feel that this method is suited to my aesthetic approach to art. I like the unpredictable nature of smoke firing. Of how smoke, fire, and organic material can leave it’s trace onto bisque fired surfaces, of how it creates dark mottled shadows and carbonised ‘cloud’ trails.

Decorative Glazing: Other pieces have been decorated with vibrant, eye-catching colour. Glaze has been used in one of two ways. Either by hand painting detailed illustrations or by blending multiple glazes to build abstract artwork on already-fired bisque clay. For ideas, I always refer back to images taken from local landscapes; in particularly the beautiful colours of the striking Dorset coastline or from my favourite New Forest woodland walks.