I make ceramic sculpture, experimenting with combinations of clay bodies and kiln firings.
Using hand building methods means each piece evolves slowly, enabling it to develop its own character, to become individual while still retaining evidence of the maker. The technical challenges of working with clay and fire provides an endless fascination, each piece I complete proves to be the catalyst for the next.
Numerous other cultures and artists have influenced and inspired this body of work, some more obviously than others, but the most direct inspiration comes from my own collection of beach stones.
I attended an amazing foundation course at Colchester (1975-1977), made brilliant by the inspiring tutorage of Phillip Ardizzone, followed by a BA Hons 3D Design course at Middlesex Polytechnic (1977-1980). It was while at college I first experimented with Raku, building a kiln on an extremely steep sided field in Somerset.
I married in 1981 and moved to the Isle of Wight. I worked for some time at Carisbrooke Pottery then set up a studio in Sandown and continued working with clay until starting a family in 1987. It was 2006 before I was able to set up a studio again, and the intervening years of dog walking the same amazing beach at Bembridge gave me time to think and observe, when I began making again I had a clear idea of what I wanted to produce and why. Having such a long break from using clay allowed me appreciate what an important element it brought to my life, how pleasurable it is to be so totally absorbed in making that you lose all track of time.
In 2014 I moved from the east to west side of the island, to Thorley near Yarmouth. Renovations began on the house and the garage, which was converted to a new studio by 2016. Work is on going to the barn on site at The Barn and to the garden to create a space for my sculpture.
The beach is no longer within a few minutes walking distance as it was at Bembridge but there are always other beaches on a small island and a rural landscape offering fresh inspiration.
Using hand building methods means each piece evolves slowly, enabling it to develop its own character, to become individual while still retaining evidence of the maker. The technical challenges of working with clay and fire provides an endless fascination, each piece I complete proves to be the catalyst for the next.
Numerous other cultures and artists have influenced and inspired this body of work, some more obviously than others, but the most direct inspiration comes from my own collection of beach stones.
I attended an amazing foundation course at Colchester (1975-1977), made brilliant by the inspiring tutorage of Phillip Ardizzone, followed by a BA Hons 3D Design course at Middlesex Polytechnic (1977-1980). It was while at college I first experimented with Raku, building a kiln on an extremely steep sided field in Somerset.
I married in 1981 and moved to the Isle of Wight. I worked for some time at Carisbrooke Pottery then set up a studio in Sandown and continued working with clay until starting a family in 1987. It was 2006 before I was able to set up a studio again, and the intervening years of dog walking the same amazing beach at Bembridge gave me time to think and observe, when I began making again I had a clear idea of what I wanted to produce and why. Having such a long break from using clay allowed me appreciate what an important element it brought to my life, how pleasurable it is to be so totally absorbed in making that you lose all track of time.
In 2014 I moved from the east to west side of the island, to Thorley near Yarmouth. Renovations began on the house and the garage, which was converted to a new studio by 2016. Work is on going to the barn on site at The Barn and to the garden to create a space for my sculpture.
The beach is no longer within a few minutes walking distance as it was at Bembridge but there are always other beaches on a small island and a rural landscape offering fresh inspiration.