The technique of using coloured clay to make framed two-dimensional landscapes is unique to me.
Experimenting with this way of working was started when we came to live in the Pennines in 1990, and living and working here has heightened my awareness of the changing colours and textures of the hills, woods and moorland.
Time is spent sketching and photographing both here and in the Lake District before starting on a session of working in clay. After mixing up several colours of stoneware clay, it is rolled and textured in a variety of ways with nets, grasses, corals, pieces of wood, and plants, using coloured slips and metal oxides – this is my palette.
I surround myself with my sketches and photographs in order to make a drawing of my intended clay design. This is usually a combination of more than one image.
My landscapes are built up with areas of the coloured clay; during this process the image often deviates from my initial drawing, as the textures on the pieces suggest where I place them.
When I am finally satisfied with my design, I can allow it to dry under a weight to make sure it remains flat, before firing to just under 1200C degrees.
You could say that my pieces are a response to landscape allowing the characteristics of my materials to suggest how I proceed.
