Profile

I was first introduced to pottery during a visit to a very primitive pottery workshop held by a disabled potter in Togo (West Africa) where I was absolutely fascinated by the way she skilfully crafted the most beautiful pot with such limited resources. 

Eight years later, I took up pottery in earnest in Botswana (Southern Africa) where I was taught by South African potter, Geraldine Hester.  On my return to England, I set up my studio in Horsham and have since displayed my work at several local exhibitions as well as in London, Southampton, Portsmouth, Salisbury and Winchester.

My greatest source of inspiration for the forms and colours comes from the memories of my early years in France and my subsequent life in Africa.  I enjoy any process where nature has a part to play.  I like the random line strokes of the Agateware created by the rotation of the wheel and the unpredictable trickle effect of the gold slip on the turquoise pots.

But my preference lies with sculptural one-off pieces that I smoke fire.  The unexpected effect of the smoke firing makes this primitive firing technique very exciting and attractive.  It allows me to bring more natural elements into my pottery, as pots can be fired with a range of products from seaweed through to seed pods with often unexpected outcomes.

The richness of the earthenware clay together with the smoke firing process and the colour and elegance of the glaze pieces try to capture a combination of images and smells of Africa and the South of France.

These themes are especially apparent in my hand sculptured stylised African ladies. Each individually crafted lady is named after a place in Botswana. She is also uniquely dressed, with the pattern on the dress seeking to capture the different styles of cloth common in Africa, while highlighting a certain unmistakable elegance.  Some are in earthenware and smoke-fired reflecting the rich colour of the African soil; others are in raku giving a wonderful contrast between the glazed clothing and the black head and shoulders.

The excitement of creating new work is that it takes you to new and unexplored places.  My sculptural work started with African ladies. 

Since then, I have tried to take the concept further by producing more stylised ladies exploring different themes of womanhood (from the womanly feel of the ladies with curves to the feminity of the mother-to-be). 

A constant strand of the potter’s discovery process is to experiment with glazes which are crucial in highlighting the overall form of the completed work.    In the last twelve months, I have become more interested in angular and rigid forms in contrast with the more flowing shapes of the sculptures.  This has led me to produce earthenware boxes with intricate lids and crackle glaze.  But I cannot entirely escape my passion for hearts and have been using them either to adorn the boxes or simply as a box.