Colour & making functional items have always been preoccupations of mine, ever since I was a child. Nothing has changed!
Using white, earthenware clay, I seek to throw beautiful pots that function well, are comfortable & tactile to hold & whose form & colours add beauty & grace to a home – whether it be a jug on the kitchen table or a vase on a sunny windowsill.
We choose items for our homes particularly, whether in the form of tableware or as interior decoration, that bring daily joy, enhance a sense of self, offer a focus for contemplation & that have an ease of utility & pleasure therein.
Through the interplay of colour on each pot, I am seeking to explore its potential for harmony and dissonance in terms of proportion & shade & its interaction with the ceramic form.
Each piece is handmade & therefore unique.
Each piece is a love letter to my craft, a note sent to you from my journey as a maker & designer.
I have been making wheel thrown, contemporary table and domestic ware from my workshop in the South Downs National Park since 2013.
My training consisted of an 18 month apprenticeship at Dartington Pottery, Devon, followed by 1 year working for Julian Bellmont (formerly of Aldermaston Pottery) from 1997 to 1998, before heading off to Rome, Italy where I produced my own work. A 14-year hiatus ensued whilst I made children rather than pots.
My work is now stocked in galleries up and down the country and sold via my website to residents here in the UK and internationally.
I also run ceramics courses & taster sessions at my workshop & in larger groups at a local ceramic’s studio near Petersfield, Hampshire.
I’m proud to be a member of the Craft Potter’s Association, London Potters & a selected member of Find a Maker.
To view my available range go to Products.
If you have seen a piece on Instagram that is unavailable on my website at present or you'd like to commission a piece then use the CONTACT page to get in touch.
If you want to find out what's involved in making my pots then read on!
MAKING PROCESS
WEDGING AND WEIGHING The ready made clay needs to be wedged (a type of kneading) in order to make it ready for throwing and then lumps weighed out depending on what I'm making.
THROWING By far the most exciting and captivating part of the making process for me! All my pots are thrown on a potter's wheel using either white or terracotta earthenware clay. This clay is fired at a lower temperature to stoneware and porcelain and therefore produces a pot that has a pleasing warmth and softness to it. Most pots are made using a specific weight of clay to specific, recorded measurements.
TURNING Once the pots have dried to a leather hard stage they are turned on the wheel (trimmed and shaped to produce their final form) with metal tools.
ADDITIONS & FETTLING Handles are pulled (formed by a pulling technique rather than by extrusion through a forma)and added to jugs and mugs, pouring lips formed on jugs, colour stain painted on where needed, bits of unwanted clay scraped and sponged off - fettling- and my personal maker's stamp added to the base of each pot.
BISQUE FIRING Once the pots are bone dry they are loaded in to the kiln for their first firing (this can take up to 4 weeks to make enough work to fire the kiln) and then fired to a temperature of 1000 degrees centigrade over a period of 12 hours.
GLAZING The cooled bisque ware has wax resist applied to their bases. This is to stop the pots from getting glaze on their bottoms which would cause them to stick to the kiln shelves when fired.Glaze is poured into the pots or they are dipped in to a variety of glazes. The glaze dries on each pot in a matter of seconds to form a powdery coating. Drips are scraped off and bottoms wiped clear of glaze.
GLAZE FIRING The pots are loaded in to the kiln for a second time to be fired to 1150 degrees centigrade over a period of 9 1/2 hours.
SANDING The unglazed bases of the finished pots are sanded to produce a smooth, pleasing, tactile finish.
All in all the making process can take anything from 3-6 weeks to complete!
