ceramic snippets - the who, what, when, why and how of it!

When I moved back to Australia after living in London for a number of years, I decided that I had to something new to engage and enliven me, and that maybe, for the first time in a long time, I should embrace my artistic side.

I tried a few things which I enjoyed but nothing really clicked, until my brother coaxed me along to a sculpture course - I fell instantly in love with it. It made me feel so happy and creative, and my love for it seemed to come out in my work because people soon started asking if they could buy my pieces.

I was a bit shy about it all to begin with, but with some encouragement from some of my friends I started ‘ceramic snippets’ and things have been going strong so far. It’s been a real learning process, which I’ve loved, because I had felt for a while that I’d stopped learning things in my life.

I make small, quirky clay sculptures with a whimsical feel. Most pieces are critters, some with quite human elements and a lot seem to have a slight touch of melancholy! My style evolved very unconsciously, I guess it was lurking in there somewhere, waiting to be released in clay.

Sometimes I’ll get a vague idea and just try it out on the clay… even if my original doesn’t work it will sometimes lead me to something new and fantastic. I’m not a big planner or sketcher, I tend to just see where the clay takes me.

I get inspiration from all over the place; I’ve noticed that a few of my critters look a bit like my cats Lulu and Queenie, so I guess inspiration starts at home! Others also share their ideas with me and I try and translate those ideas into clay for them. I also go through phases where all of my creations will have moustaches, or be covered in a certain pattern, it's just whatever take my fancy for that period of time!

Pottery is a pretty intense craft. It's messy, can be tricky and there's so much involved that's not actually crafting the work itself. Drying and firing the pieces require patience and technical know-how and I still learn new things about these processes everyday, which is equal parts exciting and daunting. Just remember that every piece you see in my shop has been in the kiln for a whopping 7.5 hours and reached over 1000 degrees centigrade - that still amazes me!

Even though I live in one of the most isolated capital city in the world, I feel like I am surrounded by a great number of talented, creative and inspiring peers. It's also exciting that with sites like etsy my work can have a worldwide audience! Please, wherever you are, whoever you are, stop by, say hi and feel free to follow my creative journey!