After a degree in Graphic Design and a very long stint as an Art Director in London, I eventually found ceramics. I started my life as a potter at Standpoint Studios in Hoxton under the guidance of Nicola Tassie, later setting up my own studio in South Oxfordshire.
As a small child I loved making mud pies, not much has changed. Potting has all the same pleasures plus the bonus of being able to make something too. It never ceases to amaze me the magic of creating something beautiful (hopefully) from a ball of mud. Perhaps this is only beaten by the moment you open the kiln after a glaze firing to see all the glistening hot bowls inside. Just like opening a treasure chest.
There’s real alchemy involved with glazing, the unfired glaze bearing no comparison to the fired one. Glaze recipes are generously shared between potters – some that I use are oriental and have been in use for a thousand years. I particularly like ash glazes and that involves gathering certain wood types from the countryside around us and then reducing them to ash in our stove. Washed and sieved they become the all important ingredient.
I work in various stonewares and porcelain and the results, I hope, are practical, lovely to use and pleasing to look at.