Eclectic Handmade Pottery and Illustrated Home Ware
As the Crows Fly began in 2013...from the humble pitch of a bicycle basket, with a bunch of friends, selling my cards of hand painted, hand pressed porcelain buttons. It’s grown from there, and I spent many years selling happily at Stroud Farmers Market, the Frome Independent Market and various lovely venues in Bristol where I used to live.
I’m now a potter and illustrator based in Scotland. I have a studio space at the Fire Station Creative in Dunfermline, sharing the building with a whole host of inspiring painters, jewellers, upholsterers and other art and craft businesses. I’ve been there for nearly a year. Before that I was in several shared studios in Bristol, my home for 18 years.
I have my own pottery wheel and kiln and I make, mainly porcelain, tableware in a variety of ranges. I throw pots that I like to draw on - usually botanical illustrations in calming celadon greens through to mad orange Art Deco inspired pieces. I love to get stuck in for a day, doing botanical drawings as research. I also slipcast pots using coloured porcelain in handmade moulds, and then sand them back to the most tactile smooth finish. They have a beautiful colour pop and mid century aesthetic. For these I use a mix of my own design forms and found objects I’ve picked up along the way.
I also throw a range of minimalist monochrome espresso ware with black and white glaze effects bubbling on the inside. These are very much influenced by Japanese tea wares. And I also enjoy the satisfaction of firing my own original illustrations on to bone china table ware and having tea towels beautifully printed in my designs... I’m quite eclectic 😂 But I like that my work addresses many different aspects of my own tastes and inspirations and appeals to a wide variety of people.
My art life began in fashion and I used to design frocks for Whistles of London. My academic background is in Social Anthropology. I’m a beach comber, forager, adventurer, cyclist and general collector and lover of things places and people...
