Personal information

I live and work in Wales, surrounded by majestic scenery overlooking the Rhinog Mountains. No-one could ask for a more inspirational setting.

I work with colour in the clay to produce agateware where the pattern is integral to the piece and not just a surface decoration. I enjoy the rigors of the technique and the combination of part control and part happenstance that this brings. I work mainly in porcelain, revelling in the clear colours that I can achieve by adding stains and oxides. I also enjoy the translucency of the porcelain. Only the rims are glazed, but I wet sand the unglazed porcelain after firing to achieve a very tactile surface. The pots are once fired in an electric kiln.

Born and brought up in the south of England, I returned there to work after training as a librarian in Aberystwyth. My first experience of clay was at an evening class, and I was so captivated that in 1986 I gave up my career and moved to Harrogate to study studio ceramics full time. I set up my first studio in Harrogate and continued to live and work there until 1996, when I moved from Yorkshire to my current home and studio in Wales.

My work is available direct from my studio (but please telephone first for an appointment), from a number of galleries and outlets throughout Britain, and at events I attend in person. I can also supply by post.

Working Methods - Porcelain agateware:
I work in porcelain, introducing colour into the clay itself to produce a range of decorative agateware: a traditional technique used in a new way. I enjoy exploring the nature of the porcelain I am currently using, which is translucent and very white. This means that I can create very crisp colours and enables me to work with very thin sheets of clay.

Basically, I colour some of the porcelain using stains and oxides, and then incorporate this coloured clay into the white body to produce the patterns that I want. I cut a slice from the block of patterned clay and roll it carefully before moulding it to form my vessel.

I glaze only the rims, using a bronze-gold glaze applied to the dry pot before firing. I once-fire in an electric kiln, and wet-sand the resultant work to achieve a satin smooth finish, which has a pleasing tactile quality.

Because my work is very fine the pots have to be supported in the kiln - using a bed of silica sand for each one. Even so, the stresses of the firing can introduce another element of surprise on opening the kiln.

I enjoy the mixture of part control and part serendipity of this making method: I control what colours I use, what proportions, the patterning - and then the random element comes in and every pot will be individual.

My working methods, quite different from those used by other potters, have evolved over several years and produce highly individual ceramic pieces. I am rarely content to stay where I am from a creative point of view and look forward to developing my work in the future.

Other work:
In order to provide lower priced items of a high quality I make other types of work using similar techniques. These include:
 earrings and cufflinks combined with commercially available findings
 earrings made with my own surgical steel fittings, plus matching pendants.
 ceramic wind chime mobiles

Philosophies:
Do I have any? I’m not really sure that I do. What I do have is a need to create. I like the challenge of mastering a technique and making it my own, and the challenge of designing within the limitations of that technique; particularly within my chosen limitations of a sheet of patterned clay. And I have a desire to give others the opportunity to enjoy the work that I have enjoyed making. I am always glad to pass on any knowledge that I have, so that others can build on my techniques and develop them in their own way.