I’m often asked why I chose to work in ceramics as opposed to other media. I find it a strange question. For me, it’s more a case of why wouldn’t I work with clay? I shall try to shed some light on my choices. When I was a child, all of my pocket money was spent on art materials. All my birthday and Christmas presents were art related. I would spend hours making things - sewing, knitting, papier-mâché, painting, chalking, Plasticine, Play Doh, cogs and wheels, nailing things,

Did you ever have one of those great ideas and you go with it and then something major that you have missed slaps you round the face?  Well, that happened to me last week.    Having decided to base my ceramic practice on my own rhyming stories, I have never actually considered if they were up to the task. It hit me last Monday, and it suddenly seemed very pertinent to check that what I write isn’t actually twaddle.  I’ve never had anyone look at anything I write other than fa

BCB This year was the British Ceramics Biennial in Stoke on Trent.  I’ve been before and thoroughly enjoyed it.  This year, I got to visit with my fellow students, Rob and Cath from Uni Lancs.  It was a fun day. We’ve spent most of the last year watching Susan Halls complete her contribution for the event and it’s been a pleasure to see.  Susan is a very warm and generous career ceramic artist who has helped us all immensely along the way.  Seeing her ‘Foldy Things’ emerge ha

I need to consider ways in which to include narratives in my ceramic works.  My initial idea was to include one or two lines from my...

Undertaking research for influential poets that inform my narratives isn't difficult. I only have to draw on works that have become...

I’m a bit of cemetery fiend.  There, I’ve said it.  I love a good cemetery and always have.  As a teacher, I’ve taken pupils on trips to cemeteries, I’ve picnicked in them and, whenever we go away, we generally visit a cemetery.    One of my earliest adventures when moving to Zambia in 2013 was to find a local cemetery and go to visit it.  I believe you can learn a great deal about a culture when you see how they bury their dead.    Whilst in Zambia, I was privileged to exper

I've started to get down on paper some of the narratives relating to my characters. I thought I'd jot them down here. They're the back...

As promised, I am including more of my overall life into my blog in order to show how my influences affect my everyday existenance, not just my research and studying. This event is a good example of this. For many years now I have enjoyed walking. In Zambia I would walk in the bush most days, listening to an audio book, meeting zebra or impala along the way. I'm sure there were snakes, but they avoided me. In the UK I walk at least once a week with my friend, Debs (and many

For the past year, as part of my MA, I have been researching ceramic artists, poets, techniques, glazing, surface design, clay bodies and inspiration based on influences and interests. It's been fascinating, challenging and exciting. There have been times I have been pushed to the wire engineering a piece, or running against deadlines for assignments in conjunction with assessments. I've met so many wonderful artists from all sorts of media and heard what they have had to off

Alongside my designs for pieces, turning narratives into 3D images using clay, I have been drawing on skills I haven't previously paid...

Now there's a name to get your tongue around. Lady Delores, or Lady D as she is now affectionately known, is an ostentatious, extinct...

My research into origami, narratives and 3D visualisation of said tales continues apace.  As I have previously blogged about, I am now...

It's all very well writing poems about Scrawny and his friends, but where did they come from? The simple answer is my imagination. Consciously or unconsciously, my imagination 'borrows' from long formed traditions in literature, animation, films, artwork, or even real-life events. We all have this trait, but some of us can draw all these experiences and observations together and turn them into stories, pictures or art. It's time to look at some of those traditions and apply t

As previously blogged about, whilst recently in LA I visited LACMA and Getty museums and made a connection between Cubism and origami,...

Well that was a fun weekend!  I’ve never been to ICF before and didn’t know what to expect.  As it was, it was a really great weekend...

We recently took a trip to Los Angeles to visit our youngest daughter for her commencement, or graduation to those of us from Blighty. ...

For the past month or so, as part of my research into narratives in clay, I have been working on a combination of sculpture with the...

I've been completing much research recently to inform my designs and decisions for my current approach to my MA theme, Narratives in Clay....

Last Friday I spent the day with my fellow MA students down in London at the Craft Potters Association's ceramic fair. It was a fabulous...

I’ve recently been crook with a horrible virus that lingered far longer than was polite It saw me holed up in the den for a couple of...