Artist + Potter

Most of my life I’ve been an artist, painting in oil on canvas, and I came to pottery recently - around 2015. All my pieces are hand built in my studio in Bruton, Somerset, using porcelain clay. 

I roll out the clay and fold the slab around a base. The result is a simple beaker. Nearly everything I make begins as a beaker. I manipulate the clay, fashion a spout and add a handle to form a teapot or coffee pot, just add a handle for a mug or leave it as a beaker. I use porcelain because it fires very white and shows the colours to their best - I also like the ‘ting’ noise as you flick it. I use tin oxide glaze for the interior and then dip them in the colour glaze. Occasionally a pot will come out of the kiln with a fault - in those cases I mend the piece using a traditional Japanese method called Kintsugi, which in effect covers the fault line with gold leaf. 

All my work is made to be used - and is dishwasher and microwave safe except those with Kintsugi mends.

I developed the forms and sizes according to my own needs, therefore the rims are thin, the walls translucent, the colours strong. There are fun little jugs and big pint mugs, coffee pots for ground coffee and teapots for loose leaf tea. Tankard beakers for beer, little beakers for wine. Tall thin jugs for sake. Small jugs for cream, medium for hot milk and big jugs for water.

Due to the way these are made, every piece will be a little bit different. However I use a template for each size and so the dimensions remain the same.