The main focus of my work is on texture and creating surfaces which place emphasis on a range of different contrasts - light and shadow, smooth and rough, chance and control.
As throwing is of particular interest to me, through improvisation and experimentation I am developing techniques which allow me to set the precision, control and fluidity of the wheel against the more spontaneous, irregular and often jagged quality of these textures.
Often the processes I use cause splitting and tearing. If so, well and good. These outbursts are expressions of the clay’s fundamental character that I wish to expose and exploit.
I use stoneware bodies with slips and oxides giving finishes which enhance the textures and express something of the materials’ origins.