landscape VESSELS
where land meets sky, river touches earth, and trees sprinkle their wisdom across the undulating hills – there is no end to the inspiration that feeds the creation of my landscape vessels/
geology, rock formations, and the earth’s minerals, have always fascinated me. As a young child I would forage fossils at Severn Beach with my Father; and in my latter years, I hike every day exploring the landscape on the Mendip Hills near my studio/
the first vessel I made was inspired by the work of Ewen Henderson, who I was fortunate to interview during my BA (Hons) Ceramics, many years ago. He too was inspired by landscape, and enjoyed the freedom of hand-buildiing, considering matters such as memory, invention and metaphor/
my memory of landscape is not only visual, but energetic; the feelings and sensations that arise as I walk and explore, seep into my being. This informs both the way I make and what arises from the Potter’s Wheel. I always start by throwing the base, enjoying the reassuring force of centrifugation, and then allowing freedom and chance to intervene as I add coils of varying clays and hand-build in layers. Every fissure, crack and covolution tells a story; every texture and colour connects to a visceral memory/
some landscape vessels are reduction fired (in a gas kiln) to enrich the glazes and slips; others are barrel fired in my garden. Every tree vessel is one of a kind, one of land, one with nature/
bespoke fern Vessels
often an aspect of earth, land, or flora ignites my inspiration; so I create a bespoke collection responding to a specific curiosity/
when I forage wild clays they are usually found next to streams or in moist gulleys near woodland glades. This is where I discover the beauty of ferns, their intricate patterns harnessing nature’s Fibonacci code – they are a visual symbol of nature’s origin/
I ask each fern plant permission to use it’s fronds, mindfully taking only one from a single plant to retain it’s vitality. Then back in my studio, I use this frond as a stencil, by pressing it into clay and painting wild clay slips over the top. When I peel the frond away it leaves a beautiful leaf print behind, an echo of it’s beauty preserved for longevity/
my bespoke vessels explore different forms to showcase these types of curiosities; from fluted rims, to bold urn shapes with spiralling twists and turns growing upwards and around the vessel/
each vessel is sensitively decorated in response to the specific curiosity; for example, I use copper oxide to enhance the beauty of fern fronds. Wild clay slips and white glaze also help to add movement and the suggestion of growing energy towards the rim/
all vessels are fired to stoneware temperatures allowing them to be filled with water for functional use in a home or dwelling space/
