'Natural Collections'
I enjoy walking and observing the changes between seasons, the accompanying flora and fauna and smaller details, such as patterns, colours and texture. Whilst doing so, I find myself collecting all manner of objects that I consider to be interesting or beautiful, such as feathers, pottery fragments, bird eggshells, rocks, seaglass and seedheads.
These in turn provide inspiration for my collections of simple decorative and functional ceramic vessels which record walks through different landscapes, such as woodland, moorland and the coast.
The pieces are either wheel thrown or handbuilt using a mixture of standard stoneware clays and bodies that I have developed through experimentation with additions such as oxides, stain, grog, iron and feldspar.
Wheel thrown and hand decorated House Sparrow eggshell bowl
Collected pebbles and a few of my coloured clay body tests for rock and pebble pots
Thrown miniature bowl with a glaze developed to mimic seaglass
Finds collected during a trip to the coast
Reduction fired thrown stoneware inspired by the colour and striations of collected pebbles
Matte glazed thrown and handpainted stoneware 'Cirl Bunting' eggshell bowl
Matte glazed thrown and handpainted stoneware feather and eggshell bowls
Feathers found whilst walking
Wheel thrown Blue Tit eggshell bowl