Hello! My name is Carole Mockford, I took early retirement in 2017 and I signed up for an evening class in ceramics in Leamington Spa. I became obsessional about making my own pots which had all my hallmarks of learning this skillful craft, be it wonky, or cracked, or a glaze fail! Whatever it was like I loved it, used it and learned from it. I set up my own small studio at home in 2018. Over the years, I have attended many individual workshops with experienced, well known, professional potters and have tried several different approaches to pottery making including slipware, raku, hand building and wheel throwing. I have developed my own unique approach using a variety of clays and a painterly approach with underglazes and oxides. My inspiration is drawn from my own experiences and what makes us smile when we use pottery. There is usually some humour in my designs including oddly shaped pots which defy our ideas of normality, random colour drips or the occasional caterpillar or ladybird peeking over the edge of a mug.

This year, 2025 will be my fourth Oxfordshire Artweeks and I am going to be exhibiting at St Marys Church in Cropredy with 9 other artists which I'm excited about having been involved in a pop up at the annual festival last year. My work is always on display at the Church Lane Gallery in Banbury and the Kitchen and Bar cafe, Whitelands Farm in Bicester.