Clay is an exciting and responsive material, which I like to use in a `truth to material' way. Current work features torn and impressed surfaces, which are then accentuated by stretching and distortion towards the final piece. I carve leatherhard clay to transform it into more organic sculptural forms. Another favourite from my student days, is to soak calico material in heavy slip and drape the soft mass around my figurative sculptures, resulting in more characteristic human representations. Further layers of viscous slip are poured on to build up a gentle thickness, later protected by glaze and burnt through in places.

I want my work to be vibrant and provoke a response, reflecting the huge satisfaction I get from interpreting old ideas in a contemporary way. History and tradition inspire me, as do the natural world and the work of ceramicists such as Lucie Rie Jack Doherty and the

Brief description of work 
Ceramic sculptures, mainly handbuilt  and figurative pieces, reflecting on the human condition. Stoneware, earthenware or raku fired

Selected exhibitions
1983  Midlands Potters Association group at Crewe and Alsager
1983  RBSA group exhibition, New Street, Birmingham
1987 and 1989  Chiswick Craft Fair, London
2005  RBSA Friends' winter and summer exhibitions at the new Brook Street Gallery, Birmingham February 2006 Friends' Winter Exhibition , RBSA
March/April 2006 `Into the Wave' solo exhibition of thirty one sculptures at Blackfriars Arts Centre, Boston, Lincolnshire
June 2006 Lichfield, Mediaeval Market with MPA group
August 2006 `August Ceramics', MPA Group Show, Botanical Gardens, Birmingham

Collections
Fortunes Rock Gallery, Alabama, United States
Private collections in England, Ireland, Scotland and Australia

Other activities 
I belong to Minigallery online community of about 500 artists, and have sold my work online to buyers from England, Scotland, Ireland and the United States.
Using an Olympus c770 camera, I enjoy digital photograohy for work and family

Further information
After a career in teaching, latterly special education, I retired in early 2006 after being diagnosed with chronic fatigue syndrome. Although my stamina is diminished, I find that my creative vision and skills have intensified.  My `into the wave' series of sculptures have been  inspired by childhood visits to the rugged Atlantic shores of Ireland. Over the last two years I have established a ceramics workshop at the back of our house, and purchased a Potclays EP45 electric kiln  plus a Roderveld throwing wheel this year. I am currently developing my throwing skills towards using wheelmade forms as the basis for some of my ceramic sculptures. I have recently joined the committee of the Midlands Potters Association.
In 2007 I plan to visit Japan to study contemporary ceramics and exchange skills with local potters in Nagoya, as a visiting scholar guest of Chubu University.

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