My preferred material, or medium to work in is clay. I particularly enjoy the softness, richness of colour and the textures when working in earthenware, using combinations of low fired clays, coloured slips and highlights of glaze.The work has concentrated previously on the human form, now there is more emphasis on human connections and relationships and impact on landscape and water .
I have also always had a passion for drawing and painting landscape within Wales and elsewhere and this has recently translated into a series of semi abstract pieces on seasons, crops etc.
Since I prefer to work on a single 2D surface the majority of ceramic sculptures are wall mounted clay slabs, which makes it possible to to create large or small scale pieces in convenient moveable sections. These ‘sculptures’ [drawings? paintings?] are suitable for interior rather than exterior walls and can be seen in the studio, or at current exhibition.
My intense pleasure in drawing finally transferred directly to ceramics with the ancient technique cuerda seca which produces wonderful, graphic, wax resist outlines on clay.
This drawing has also led in turn to tile work – my only commissioned and practical work, see my tile website.
The main site galleries reflect the different themes and projects I have been working on and show my current work for sale.
Please feel free to ring me to discuss details of pieces, sales or exhibitions. – 01225 460805
History
I have always drawn, painted, and had an interest from an early age in using clay and trained as a ceramist in Cardiff College of Art. My career started like many others at the time by moving into the landscape [ N.Wales]! There I built a massive truck kiln to fire substantial slab built figures and garden troughs of high fired stoneware.
Always interested in early art, archaeology and civilizations it was during a visit to the Alhambra palace in Spain that I became excited by colour and drawing on surface decorated ceramics which has a very long and different, often undervalued, tradition to that of pot making.
It was the visual impact of wall ceramics on a space used by people that interested me particularly.
As a result I wanted to work more two dimensionally, to use line and colour on low fired earthenware ceramics and to concentrate on colour and drawing on low fired clay.
An unexpected commission for a decorated textile screen based on a Welsh legend involved me in in learning to use batik
This led to discovering the similar ancient middle eastern wax technique for ceramics, [known in Spain as cuerda seca -dry cord].
A technique which suited me perfectly and enables me to draw bold lines directly onto ceramics-it is traditionally used as a barrier between different glazes
An MA in Cardiff, and later a fellowship at Bath Academy of Art encouraged further development. I often research in the landscape and then create ceramic sculpture -wall panels, and tiles in my current ceramic studio in Old Orchard in Bath which is open to the public.
Please follow this link to view my CV.
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