Karen Williams

I studied art at university, specialising in graphics and printmaking, I experimented with clay but decided it was rather difficult. When my career didnt take me in that direction, I always pursued some type of art (photography, life-drawing, etching to name a few). When I moved to West Wales about 10 years ago, I worked from home as a project manager and needed a creative outlet. I found a ceramics class and decided to give it a go. It turned out that throwing left-handed opened the door to thrown ceramics for me. After a few years of lessons, I set up my own studio at home, which give me flexibility and allowing more experimentation. 

When I make pots I'm most creative it's doing rather than thinking, it's when the pots that I've dreamed about and doodled become reality. I enjoy the technical challenge of making different shapes. Ceramics is a world of contrasts taking a lump of clay and making something striking and functional. I'm fascinated by the discipline thats needed to throw a pot compared to the spontaneity of decorating the pot in a way that demonstrates movement, emotion and passion. I know that each pot will be slightly different to the last one - the beauty of the handmade. 

I'm inspired by the natural world and what I see around me; the fluidity and colours of waves and the sea; the changes in the weather and seasons; the beauty of Welsh landscapes. There is nothing more magical and exciting than opening a glaze kiln and seeing the finished results for the first time; seeing if they live up to my hopes and expectations. I make both decorative and functional, wheel-thrown, ceramics. They are fired conventionally in an electric kiln or raku fired in a gas kiln.