Alison Proctor

Introduction

I have been making ceramics part time since graduating from a studio ceramics course at the Royal Forest of Dean College in Gloucestershire. I have recently moved from Surrey to Kent, and I’m currently setting up my new studio in New Romney.

My work has been shown in exhibitions and galleries, including The New Ashgate Gallery Farnham, The Orangery, Holland Park, RAC Club, Pall Mall, City Hall, London, Yew Tree, Cornwall, Paddon & Paddon, Eastbourne and New Brewery Arts, Gloucs .

I also make work to commission and sell directly.

I make a range of work that usually starts from being thrown on a wheel and is then altered to create pieces with dynamic and flowing lines. I like combining and reflecting elements of my love of movement with my interests in the natural world. Plant life or studies from land and seascape weave their way into my individual pieces and are often sculptural using whichever technique best suits what I’m exploring.

I generally work with red and white earthenware clay but have also been experimenting with naturally found sea clay and reclaimed bone china.

I create my own engobe mixes to decorate my work, which gives me a wonderful range of colours.

In recent work I have been exploring the tradition of creating sprig moulds directly from plants and leaves.

I originally trained as a dancer and gained a degree in Dance and Art at Roehampton University in London. However, an injury thwarted my intentions for a career in dance and wanting to stay in theatre, and continue in a creative vein, I retrained in lighting design. This led me to lots of different projects ranging from dance work (I was awarded an Arts Council Bursary for Lighting Design for dance in 1989) to lighting exhibitions such as the Channel 4 ‘1940’s House’ at the Imperial War Museum, and a Japanese Paper Sculpture Installation, ‘Light on Water’ in Darlington Arts Centre. I was teaching lighting design at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, when I discovered ceramics at evening class. I have also worked as an Arts Producer for Siobhan Davies Dance, Fevered Sleep and Entelechy Arts

I currently balance making part time with a job as a freelance Arts Producer.