I use the surface of my slab built vessel forms like a canvas onto which I apply mark-making techniques, layers of engobe, slip and underglaze colours when the clay is leatherhard and then build up more layers as the clay dries. The work is fired to 1140°C and then more layers of engobe are applied before oxides and glossy glaze is used to highlight details. Exploring ideas through drawing is an important part of my making process; I tend to do this before committing myself to the ceramic pieces.
I want my work to evoke the feeling of landscapes that I have visited or travelled through. My work is influenced by my environment and the landscape on a small and large scale. I am particularly influenced by the inconsequential visual effects that are created in landscapes around me by the repetitive and methodical actions of humankind as we go about our day to day or year to year routines. Often these physical marks or patterns can be the result of seemingly unimportant everyday life and yet they say something fundamental about human nature and our relationship with the natural world.
The possibilities of mark making into and onto a ceramic surface are endless and this exploration drives my work forward in a process of continuous discovery.
My studio is in Stourbridge, West Midlands.