Process

My work involves mark making. In the case of my ceramics, once I have made a harmonious form – with agonised decisions made about shape, size of opening, neck, shoulders etc - with an appropriate volume and weight, I set to work on the surface. In the case of Naked Raku pots, the marks are ‘painted’ by smoke and the process enabling the smoke markings is painstaking and lengthy. In the case of my Saggar Fired pots the surface decoration is created through a variety of metals in different forms together with smoke. Both techniques involve a combination of designed marks and unpredictable marks.

The video below shows my Naked Raku ceramic process from start to finish.

The smooth polished surface of the final work belies the process that has created them. Rough-textured clay, necessary to withstand the thermal shock of raku and saggar firing, is thrown and turned. When leather-hard, multiple layers of terra sigillata are applied to the surface of the pot and burnished. A brush with a slightly-too- long finger nail, or pottery tool, can ruin the surface. This meticulous, patient, and highly controlled work is then subjected to violent raku or saggar firing where fire, wood and water set to work. In the case of Naked Raku, glaze is used in the mark making process, but it is removed post firing - hence the term ‘naked ‘- or bare of glaze. Each piece is entirely unique; a combination of my honed technique and the alchemy of the kiln.

Unlike my pots, where very controlled and precisely made pieces are given over to the alchemy of the kiln, my life drawings are created the other way round. I first apply colour in the form of ink or chalk pastels onto a blank surface to convey an ‘essence’ of the pose. I overlay this with controlled, accurate marks, in the form of a black line using ink, pastel or charcoal. I use earth colours such as brick red, burnt umber, raw sienna and ochres -they seem to convey a rawness. The tone is ‘free’ to escape the line, the opposite of the ‘colouring in’ we were all taught to do as children. The result is the opposite of neat, and the journey of the piece is very evident. I favour quick poses, to capture a moment in time, an emotion, movement and light and where the too soon deadline makes the heart race and the adrenaline pump.

A short video about my drawing process.