ARTIST STATEMENT

My intention as a visual artist is to make colourful dynamic work in response to my surroundings and my connection with the landscape. While ceramics is my speciality, I enjoy working with other materials. I find that shifting my focus between different projects allows disparate mediums to inspire and influence each other.

CERAMICS

My ceramics begin with slabs of earthenware clay which I cut, shape and often distort. I draw on the surfaces and add textures using a variety of tools and found objects. Colour is added through a mixture of glazes and underglazes after the first firing. This may only subtly suggest the source material as my primary goal is to convey the energy that the subject evokes. The colours deepen and come to life after a second firing.

PAINT

I paint on paper and canvas in much the same way as I use colour on clay. I try to capture the vitality of the subject by keeping the material fluid and dynamic. I have been experimenting with abstraction in recent years by simplifying motifs in order to suggest rather than to illustrate.

TEXTILES

I am exploring the expressive possibilities of quilt making following my interest in the Gees Bend quilters of Alabama. These women created quilts for warmth that also served as expressions of their lives. I stitch swathes of coloured fabric together  to create something that resembles a large canvas of expressive colour. I find the final quilting process meditative and calming.