My Pottery Philosophy
and my influences
After years as a creative director in commercial design plus a few elsewhere. I have slowed to a gentler pace. I am now an artist and studio potter, creating hand-built stoneware pots that don’t fulfill a brief, a specific purpose or a budget. They simply reflect subjects that inspire me. Now I am free to create what I want; I find I’m using clay mainly to create a narrative about anything that inspires me.
I’m delighted when someone recognises the source of inspiration in one of my pieces.
- Rocks and the sea
- Found objects – bones, pebbles, shells, feathers
- The huge wide skies of the fens, the mountains of the north west highlands
- Footpaths, farming and fences
- Words that strike a chord
Plus the works of other potters that always keep me striving to do better.
I’m a very shy potter. My work is eclectic and as such I’m happy not to be categorised. My delight is in the spontaneous and in discovering new techniques rather than repeating old ones. My pots reflect this, being instinctive rather than highly finished. I rarely stick to one theme because there’s so much inspiration out there. The only rule is that a pot should hold water (or a bunch of daffs).