Process

I graduated from art school 14 years ago and have been working with clay since then. I am in a long-term relationship with clay and it becomes more interesting, challenging and enjoyable as the years go on. I aim to create affordable, simple and beautiful pottery which people get pleasure from using. Throwing is my favourite part of the process; tranforming a spinning ball of clay into pleasing forms never loses it's magic. I experiment with glazes to achieve subtle hues and particularly like using light opaque glazes over the dark red clay. I leave the clay exposed at the bottom of mugs and bowls and apply the glaze thickly to create drips, enjoying the results from the firing process and the contrast between the glassy runny glaze and the raw high fired body. I draw simple line drawingsalways inspired by nature, prepare transfers and fire them into the glazed surface. I like the interaction between the transparency of the image and the variations of colour in the glaze.

I was born in Glasgow in 1974 and grew up in Helensburgh on the west coast. In 1991 I went to Glasgow School of Art to train to be a product designer. During my second year one of the students had gone to Denmark on an exchange trip and came back with some stunning ceramic vases she had made there. Within a month I had moved over to the ceramics department. I studied ceramics, printmaking and sculpture at the University of Toledo in Ohio in 1995 as part of an exchange trip and later worked there from 1996 to 1998. In return for free studio space and materials I took on the job as technician. On my return to Glasgow I leased a studio at the Glasgow Sculpture Studios where I took on private commissions, community art projects and ran workshops for schools, community groups and colleges. You can see some of those projects here www.deepfired.net In 2007 I moved to my current workshop, Deepfired Ceramics Studio in Govan and started to make studio pottery. I spend my days working on my functional ceramics, private commissions and public art projects.

Deepfired Ceramic Studio is going to be moving later in 2010 to the Highlands. A new studio is currently under construction in Ardersier near Inverness. From Spring 2011 I will be offering weekend courses with accomodation, food, special firings and breath taking scenery- what more could you ask for? . News updates will be posted soon...

My CV