The guises of clay are varied and extraordinary however my continuous interest in vessels means that pots are my great love. They link one to a history of making objects, from the china painted bowl I found and treasured as a child and the early Persian bowls with simple patterns that I admire, to the battered metal containers that hang on my studio wall. They are part of a consistent thread of influences which include paintings, and an appreciation of that which is made by hand.
I use a wheel because the immediacy of ones response to actions demands undivided attention, the speed at which decisions are made remains a constant challenge and the soft fluid process of turning a solid lump of clay into a voluminous fine walled structure never fails to excite me.
At every stage of making I try to capture something of the freedom I find in throwing. I choose Limoges Porcelain for its colour when both raw and fired, and its strength in the heat of the kiln. Making for me is also about working with risk, surfaces react to the slightest touch, traces of hand and tool remain, bowls move and twist, materials melt and fuse.
I wrap bold, ostensibly black marks, around the porcelain forms, animating and defining spaces; brushmarks fade and blur, inky opaque bands change to pale fresh air blues with occasional flashes of yellow. There are remnants in these vessels of the vast landscapes which have always been my inspiration.