I have always loved making things. From drawing and crafts as a child to fine art at GCSE, then a foundation course which allowed me to delve into the various disciplines of art, and where I was one of only two people out of a year group of 50+ who finalised in ceramics. Next I moved to London to gain a ceramics degree at The University of Westminster in Harrow.
Life went in a different direction after university and a job as veterinary receptionist led into my qualifying as a veterinary nurse. Over the next several years I built up my workshop in my wooden shed at the bottom of our garden in the Peak District, exploring clay and doing local community projects.
In 2022 we moved back to Lincolnshire to settle in Fulstow, a quiet rural village surrounded by agriculture nestled between the coast and The Wolds. I set up my studio in Trafalgar Cottage next to our house in which I utilise all the downstairs as workspace, the conservatory and living room being the main workshop and the kitchen is my photography area. The upstairs has two double bedrooms in which I hope to house ceramic enthusiasts for creative holidays at some point in the future. 2022 really felt like the start of my ceramic career as with both children in full time education and a switch to locum vet nursing, I was able to get into the studio on a daily basis. I began getting myself to local craft and artisan markets, a couple of ceramic fairs, and into my first exhibition.
2023 felt incredibly exciting as I took all the lessons I learnt from 2022 and channelled them into making new pieces. I worked on developing new functional ware forms from the porcelain white stoneware clay I favour, using rolled out slabs. After bisque firing they are underglazed in bright contemporary patterns, dipped in a transparent glaze and fired to a high temperature. Once out the unglazed bottoms are finely sanded until sea pebble smooth. I make my handles by squeezing strips of clay capturing the skeletal impressions which are aesthetically striking, practical, and connect the maker to the user in a tangible handhold.
That year also saw more exploration of raku work. The western Raku technique is best described as post fired reduction, and is essentially when glazed ceramics are taken from the kiln while they are still glowing red hot and are then placed in a metal bin with a lid filled with combustible material such as sawdust and paper. This starves the piece of oxygen, a reduction takes place which can create changes such as copper greens turning to reds as the oxygen is taken from the glaze, and metallic flashes. Clay with no glaze on it can result in a matte black colouring from the trapped carbon during reduction.
2023 saw me completing my first full year of exhibiting at the larger ceramic shows in the uk such as Toasted in Derby, Sheffield Ceramics Festival, Ceramics in Charnwood, Art in the Pen Skipton, Wardlow Mires pottery and Food Festival in The Peaks, and Potfest Melton Mowbray to name a few. By the end of the year I had exhibited in three galleries with two of those and another gallery asking to stock pieces. I enrolled in a glaze course to refresh my twenty fiveish year-old knowledge of glaze chemistry and began to experiment with glazes based on the colours of the peaock inspired by our village residents.
2024 started off at a run with a January exhibition in Village Art Gallery in Skelmanthorpe Library from January 13th to February 10th with 7 other potters from the Northern Potters Association (South East). I made and delivered more pieces to three galleries to stock. It was a busy year with 16 shows in total, 5 exhibitions, and 3 galleries stocking work over the year. I continued to develop my website. I overhauled my fairs set up by creating backboards to hang large platters from, added lighting, and made more dark wood props. I developed larger bowls and vessels which I coil build. I began adding texture to the outside of these forms by either using a stone to roll around it, or carving into the form when leather hard. I ran the first workshop in my studio at Easter time, and held the first ever Trafalgar Cottage open studio at Christmas.
2025 began with a wonderful two month stint in the studio developing a new body of work to take to Fusion Art Fair and the shows beyond it. I further developed my coil built textured spiral forms in both the grogged version of porcelain white stoneware and my favourite raku clay Ashraf Hanna. To keep one variable constant, I decided to stick to the colour palette of turquoise, dark blue and white for both clay bodies. I further explored the spiral theme thinking about the golden ratio and sacred geometry which led me to the nautilus shell. This was ideal to base some wall pieces on and the raku process worked very well in giving the nautilus shells atmospheric variations in colour and tone. I framed each nautilus on a black board within a deep-set glazed black frame. I plan on further developing my wall pieces alongside my 3D work.
I wanted to replicate similar dark blue and turquoise glazes for my porcelain white stoneware clay body as for my raku work, so lots of glaze research and testing commenced and I came out with 2 colours I was very happy with and an application process that worked to bring out each colour, and blend one to the other and into the transparent/white body.
In time for the first show of 2025 I created a mailing list on my website and used a QR code at the show to link people straight to the sign up landing page. The next step will be to start a newsletter.
Progressing from last years one Easter workshop, beginning in March I will hold raku taster workshops. I am giving people the chance to make their own pieces then return to glaze and watch them being raku fired.
I love to explore different firing methods. I have finally gotten my nice sized front loading gas kiln outfitted with an fume hood venting outside the kiln shed so I plan to start using that this year alongside my electric and raku kilns. Another exciting project is the honour of being the first guest potter at Sherwood Forest Wood Firing group in March. Having never fired a wood kiln I am over the moon to get the chance to learn first hand more about this ancient firing process.
I am constantly evolving as a ceramic artist and feel excited to see where my ceramic journey will take me to next!
