My Story
Background
I have always loved art and I have always loved nature and that is the basis of everything that I do.
As a child I would spend hours in my parent’s garden studying ants nests, fishing around in the pond, looking at plants and wondering at the beauty of it all. As I grew up and studied Biology at school, I marvelled at the cellular level of the world and it only served to increase my wonder.
I thought about studying botany but art pulled me away and I went to art college thinking that illustration was my path but it soon became apparent that I loved developing my drawing and ideas into 3D. A degree in Contemporary Craft followed where I specialised in ceramics and textiles and I have worked in the arts ever since, selling my paintings, drawings, illustrations and ceramics through galleries around the country and abroad.
My current range of ceramics came into being after having my daughters and moving to Heathfield where we bought a house with a large workshop. It sat there waiting at the end of the garden, calling to me to start work again once the girls were big enough and this is where everything you see on this website was designed and created.
Inspiration
A deep connection to nature inspires all of my work. My belief that all life is interconnected and sacred is the motivation behind everything that I create. Magic, mythology, folklore and spirituality also interest me and colour my work. I love tales of beings part human, part animal finding them an interesting vehicle for my ideas regarding our relationship with nature and how we are connected to it.
Spring is my favourite season and the magical month of May is when I feel most inspired. I love it when everything turns green again and plants almost grow as you look at them, when the ferns are unfurling and the world comes alive, this is when you will find me drawing, painting and photographing madly and collecting specimens to inspire new pieces.
Ceramics
I work mainly in white earthenware, slab building my pieces which I then decorate using slips and oxides before glazing them. I also sometimes use transfers created from my drawings and gold lustre to add detail. More recently I have been experimenting with sgraffito techniques where you paint slip on and scratch back into the clay to reveal the clay beneath. It is a lovely, expressive way to work as you can put a lot of energy into the mark making and I love the look that it creates as it reminds me of lino and wood cuts.
I create my heirloom decorations in porcelain paper clay which is so beautiful to work with as it is so pale but more forgiving than normal porcelain!
Future
I love what I do and would like to further expand into designing for licensing projects alongside developing my ceramics. To truly express my ideas about the importance of seeing nature as sacred, which is obviously becoming more pressing with the passing of time, is my main motivation and what inspires me to keep making.
