“Building and surface combine to form a ritual process akin to working with the shadows of time and place”

“My work explores human experience through the magical, mysterious and sacred. It calls to our common humanity”

Themes

The process of coiling is slow and rhythmic, lending itself to meditative engagement. The simplicity of hand building makes it portable and endlessly variable. One of our earliest ways of engaging creatively with materials, it has accompanied humanity throughout history. I find it reassuring to work with clay, a composite of minerals broken down by water and time. The structure and colour vary, yet it remains a common material shared amongst cultures and across time.

My ‘moon jars’ began as a lockdown project. I built one per lunar month. The surfaces became an intuitive narrative response to what arose during that time. Some reflect inner journeys. Others responded to the weather, seasonal growth or global events that occupied my thoughts. They became an autobiographical document enmeshed with the cyclical lunar rhythms. The porous, permeable clay and my porous, permeable self, receiving and filtering events and feelings.

Working on a large scale creates time for deep contemplation. The building is simple and ritualistic. Each stage brings different sensations. The inner space created within the vessel seems to act as a depository for thought and enquiry; a focus space. The form becomes the shell, the container of volume and energy. I see them ultimately as poems - thoughts in form.

I work with paper resist and smoke firing, exploring the qualities of paper to build layer and line. My smoke firing kiln is a simple brick construction in my garden. A fire is built around the work to enable the smoke to permeate the ceramic. It acts like a natural dye, sepia tones varying from light to rich conker brown dependent on the ferocity of flame and qualities of sawdust in the reduction firing. Using globally-recurring surface patterns and symbols drawn from petroglyphic imagery and prehistoric artefacts, I aim to bring a comforting point of human connection that is inclusive and indefinable.

A minimal approach to materials keeps the process bare, structured and engaging. The ephemeral nature of the smoke and its vulnerability to strong sunlight bring us back to our relationship with our planet and each other.

Current practice explores ways of reducing environmental impact further by working with natural clay pigments in a once-fired process, ultimately towards unfired pieces which honour our reciprocal relationship with the earth.

Background

I’ve worked with clay since 1990. I now live on the Somerset/ Wiltshire border close to the ancient sites of Avebury and Stonehenge. Early career work brought a Development Award from South West Arts (1998) and awards from British Council/University of Namibia/Potters Association of Namibia (1999). My article ‘Searching for Spirit’ was published by Ceramic Review (issue 185). I was represented by Kate Chertavian Fine Art and sold work through Selfridges and St Ives gallery.

I took a career break in 2009 to bring up my sons as a single mum, retraining as an ordained Interfaith Minister before resuming my ceramics journey in 2020.

Recent work

My first returning exhibition in November 2021 was a sell-out solo show at Brownsword Hepworth gallery in Kensington, London. I became a selected member of the Craft Potters Association in 2022. Work has featured at selected ceramics events (Celebrating Ceramics, Potfest in the Park and Oxford Ceramics Fair). Recent exhibitions include Contemporary Ceramics (London), Beaux Arts Bath, Vanner Gallery (Salisbury). Gallery 57 (Arundel), Velarde gallery and David Simon Contemporary. I’ve worked most recently in ‘Vessels’ exhibition in Salisbury and ‘Vessels Art Trail’ in St Michael and All Angels, Gwernensey, curated by Jacquiline Creswell with Arts in Christianity and Friends of Friendless Churches. Full CV is here.

My next exhibition is (Unfold); a curated mixed exhibition at Vanner Gallery, Salisbury 7- 29th March 2025