My practice varies between hand building and throwing but my subject matter deals consistently with the natural world. I live surrounded by rural countryside and have a deep respect for and love of its myriad colours, textures and forms. It is beautiful but not perfect and I try to illustrate this in my work, seeking out the wrinkles and blemishes which give Nature its character and soul - the pure white bark of the silver birch gnarled by age, the ancient walnut disfigured by parasitic clusters of black lichen. To bring movement and life to my wheel-thrown "Seasons" bowls I cut the rims and "stitch" them back together, breaking the perfection normally expected of this making process.
Our group theme for OS23 is based on the myths and legends of antiquity which were told through symbolic drawings taken from the natural world, for example, the hugely powerful Eye of Ra, which represented the sun to Egyptians and was a symbol of protection.