My Story
My story is one of lifelong creativity, teaching, exploration and a deep connection to clay as a material of expression, memory and transformation.
Pottery has been a constant thread throughout my life. Over the years, it has become not only a creative practice, but also my way of expressing what I notice, feel and respond to in the world around me.
Where it began
My connection to art began early and continued through my school years, university training and professional life. While I have always been interested in a range of creative disciplines, pottery gradually became the medium that felt most natural to me; a material that was both grounding and expressive, structured and unpredictable.
Through studying Art Education and later working as a teacher of the Arts, I developed a broad understanding of creative process across different forms of making. That background continues to shape the way I work today, allowing painting, printmaking, life drawing and mixed media to flow naturally into my ceramics practice.
Why clay
Clay has always drawn me in because it feels so connected to the earth. It is malleable, responsive and full of possibility, and it allows me to create work that reflects the colours, textures and rhythms of the surrounding environment.
What I love most about working with clay is that it invites collaboration. I may begin with an idea or direction, but the piece often reveals itself through the process of making. Rather than forcing a fixed outcome, I allow the material to guide some of the journey, and that openness gives each work its own presence and individuality.
How I work
My practice is intuitive and process-led. I’m interested in what happens when form, texture, decoration and material response are allowed to evolve together, rather than being tightly controlled from the beginning.
This approach often creates work that sits somewhere between vessel and sculpture. Irregular rims, layered surfaces, tactile marks and unexpected details become part of the story of each piece, carrying traces of touch, time, experimentation and change.
What shapes the work
Much of my work is influenced by landscape, natural textures and the subtle visual language of the environment. I am drawn to surfaces that suggest weathering, growth, erosion, memory and transformation, and I enjoy building those qualities through layers of glaze, underglaze, carving and mark-making.
Because my creative background extends beyond pottery, I often bring a painterly or mixed-media sensibility into the work. Colour, line, surface rhythm and composition all play an important role, giving the finished forms both structure and expressive depth.
Creative influence
Another part of my artistic background has been the influence of my uncle, British sculptor Ralph Brown. His commitment to form and material left a quiet but lasting impression on me, and that sense of respect for the expressive possibilities of a medium continues to resonate in my own practice.
Although my work has developed in its own direction, that family connection to sculpture and serious making forms part of the wider story behind what I do.
Today
Today, pottery remains a constant anchor in my life. It is a practice that continues to challenge me, ground me and surprise me, and I am still drawn to the beauty that emerges when material, intuition and process are allowed to work together.
Every piece I create carries something of that journey; a conversation between hand, clay and environment, shaped over time into work that is tactile, expressive and deeply personal.