All my making starts out at the wheel. Some pieces are simply cleaned up and 'turned' to complete the process, others are further manipulated by hand or using tools to develop the form.
I use stoneware clay that fires to a range of 1200 - 1300c in an electric kiln. Once fired, the clay particles fuse, creating a higher degree of density, giving a stone like quality that is no longer porous. It is therefore ideal for all kinds of domestic use – durable, perfect for oven to table and happy in the dishwasher.
I mix my own glazes by experimenting with raw materials on different clay bodies fired at various temperatures and noting the results. I like the alchemy that goes into achieving colour directly from natural oxides; using copper, cobalt and rutile to create beautiful blues and greens; tin oxide to give soft fluid whites, and the many varied combinations when used together and apart. I aim to make glazes that work with the clay body to create a fusion that reveals the best of both; a working partnership rather than two separate entities forced together. Opening the kiln after a glaze firing is the cherry on my potter's cake.
Pot making became a consuming passion for me in 2003.
Before that I studied acid etching and enamelling on kiln fired glass at Roehampton in the early nineties, followed by a career in teaching.