I work predominantly with stoneware clay that will withstand both the heat of the oven and the extreme outdoor weather conditions. I love throwing large open forms and using glazes to contrast with the textured clay body of each piece. My work includes thrown bowls with expressive lips; bowls with an animal on the side; jugs with fun ‘hand’-les; platters of whole imprinted leaves with decorative coils, or even a mouse or snail. Animals and birds, both true to life and sometimes quirky, often feature in my thrown and hand-built work. Larger animals or birds come alive, with a flick of an ear or tilt of a head.
I strongly believe that any functional pottery must be a thing of beauty that you can leave out on display and have ready to hand for daily use. I want it to be tactile, and so I take care with my glazing and surface features.
I also make Raku. I love the organic nature of this pottery firing method. It is so instantaneous – pure chemistry in action, with its fluxing glaze and the reduction of oxygen. I am influenced by my native New Zealand bush and the wildlands of England.

I have discovered a seam of ‘Roman clay’ nearby. Dug from the earth, it echoes the past, as I clean it and mould it into shape with my hands as people would have done 2000 years ago. Full of iron oxide, it first turns a rich terracotta-orange in fire and then, under reduction, it turns a deep black. I have discovered that it is ‘stable’ to stoneware temperatures and produces a deep crimson clay - something our forebears may not have achieved with their crude kilns and fire pits.
I am never happier than when I am in my studio making and creating.
Come and see for yourself.