Biography
My first experience of pottery was watching my mum and brother craft all sorts of wonderful Pottery made on the kitchen table at home during during my childhood in the 1970s and 80s. It must have made a big impression on me as a child. I still have a few pieces which my mum made and she was quite an accomplished pinch potter and modeller of animals and ornaments. Much later on I inherited my mum's pottery wheel which I continue to use to this day!
Pottery at secondary school consisted of a few sessions in basic hand building which I enjoyed- but I never really took my interest any further. On leaving school I studied on the GAD course at Thurrock Technical College between 1991 and 1993, which was a complete revelation to me. I experienced working with a wide range of different media including ceramics. It was here that I first experienced a smoke firing outside in the open air.
Although I had an aptitude for pottery- I chose not to fully channel myself in this direction and focused instead on Theatre design and technical arts, which included sculpting, modelling and stage design. I gained a place at Wimbledon School of Art but this didn't really work out for me and I felt somewhat misplaced. Eventually I transferred onto the 3d design degree course at Middlesex University , formerly Hornsea School of Art.- and found my niche at long last and could specialise in making ceramics. Middlesex had a slant towards industrial slip cast ceramics which was not really my metier, so even then It took me a while to find my feet on the degree course. However I felt much more at home there.
Whilst at Middlesex I began to gravitate unsurprisingly towards hand built ceramics. Emmanuel Cooper and Mo Jupp. I found to be the most supportive of the Middlesex panel of tutors and the ones I learnt most from. I look back on this period fondly and remember both as great teachers. It is remarkable to think that I had contact with them considering their somewhat legendary status as studio potters. Mo Jupp of course was a renowned ceramic sculptor and had been a student of the great Hans Coper. Emmanuel Cooper produced beautiful volcanic pots and was a glaze master- he also knew Lucy Rie. and wrote several books about her. Name dropping aside- I eventually pulled a 2;1 out the bag largely thanks to their tutelage in particular. I completed the course by exhibiting at the New Designers in London and at the Craft Potters Association shop also in London. To top it all I had my graduate work bought by Selfridges and Co. The same year I showed at the New Ashgate Gallery in Farnham, and was shaking hands with Sir David Attenborough at the Gallery opening. It seemed an unbelievable start to my career making pottery.
On the other hand, a career in pottery is always full of swings and roundabouts and my good fortune ultimately couldn't last! Bouyed by my initial success .I applied to the Royal College of Art Ceramics course -keen to further my education . However a disastrous interview lead to my being resolutely shown the door by Professor Martin Smith. At times I've also been rudely dismissed by a veritable coterie of different gallery owners. Such rejection is often hard to take, because the criticism can feel very personal. One lamentably bad experience occurred in a Whitstable glass and ceramic gallery. The owner was quite the most spectacularly rude person I have ever had the misfortune of dealing with! I try not to let such experiences get me down , because invariably the scales will tip back in your favour. . So I do believe as a potter, in the end, your luck evens out.
Happily I can report rather more examples of success than failure over the years! Perhaps my most memorable experience came from a surprising contact with design firm Curocarte based in India in 2016. Buyers came to view my work all the way from Delhi! The resulting work was shipped back by air freight and featured in magazines such as GQ and Architectural Digest and my pots were previewed on India's Sony Liv TV. Financially it was the biggest order I've ever had and find it hard to believe to this day! Other career highlights include a joint exhibition at Arte sur Couer in Rueil Malmaison. Paris. Rather more close to home- Chelmsford Museum acquired a jug for their Studio Pottery Collection which was a very special moment, because I used to visit the museum with my family as a child. I've enjoyed exhibiting at fairs in the UK such as Art in Clay and I've sold to private collectors across the world- including the USA, Canada, Japan and Taiwan. In 2019 I won a gold award at the FAPDA UK JAPAN Art competition. In 2022 I was thrilled to be featured in a new book on the Raku technique- “Contemporary Raku” . This was written by probably one of the leading practioners in UK Raku- Stephen Murfitt and a lifelong influence on my work.
I continue to pot happily at my home studio in Earls Colne, North Essex- and to embrace the swings and roundabouts of sometimes-not so outrageous fortune!
