I have been making ceramics professionally since 2000, following a studio ceramics course at the Royal Forest of Dean College in Gloucestershire.
My work is very much inspired by the natural landscape and in particular the sea and coastline. I love exploring ways that the clay can take on the physical and decorative aspects of the seascapes and landscapes. In this way they become like 3 dimensional paintings or sculptural pieces in their own right. The sense of movement is very important to my work and each piece is first thrown on a wheel and then altered to create the distinctive wave forms that are now intrinsic to my work. The pieces retain the finger ripples made through the process of throwing, adding to the feeling of movement and water.
My current work focuses on the horizontal bands of colour found in the sea and landscapes, combined with the feeling of movement from water and undulating hills. Each piece is unique in both shape and colour, decorated with my own recipes of coloured slips and engobes. I use a white earthenware clay that allows me to produce a wonderfully diverse range of colours and work in a very painterly way directly onto the clay surface.
I originally trained as a dancer and gained a degree in Dance and Art at Roehampton Institute 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 more recently 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. I was teaching lighting design at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, when I discovered ceramics at evening class.
I currently work from my studio in West Molesey, Surrey next to the the River Thames.
