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My first taste of ceramics was a one-off occasion as a guest at an adult education class in Australia in 1997. The experience encouraged me on my return to the UK, to enrol for a two year BTEC National Diploma in Design and Studio Ceramics at the Royal Forest of Dean College, under the auspices of Alastair Young and Jack Doherty, followed in September 2000 by a two year Professional Development Certificate Course, both of which I passed with Distinction
After working for over 30 years in commerce, I gave up ‘the day job’ in February 2002 to devote the majority of my time to ceramics. My workshop is an old converted wash house at my home in the Forest of Dean, where, apart from a small gas bottle fuelled raku kiln, I am wholly dependant upon electricity to fire my work.
Although I occasionally use other clays for raku work, my great love is porcelain, and the majority of my pieces are made in this demanding clay. Whatever the media, it is very important to me that my work is well finished, tactile, visually appealing and attractive to the eye when seen from any angle; and for each piece to be completely unique.
I am inspired by the simple, graceful shapes of Song dynasty Chinese porcelains; the Art Nouveau period with its fluidity of design; botanical motifs and the natural world in general - from fractals to water, the folds of desert and rock, and the forest in which I live and work.
My pieces are thrown Limoge porcelain, fired to between 1240 and 1260 celcius in an electric top loader. I have always been most interested in glaze technology, particularly in the field of creating unusual glaze surfaces within the constraints of electric kiln firing. The major subject of my current work is my own exploration into the beguiling and frustrating discipline of Macro Crystalline glazes, andI am proud tosay that some of my pieces are to be featured in the new edition of Diane Creber’s book on Crystalline Glazes, and the next issue of Frank and Janet Hamer’s Potters Dictionary.
Contact:
01594 823241
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