Bradley Spencer

My work starts with drawing.

Through the physical act comes a greater understanding of what I have been looking at and it becomes part of me.  The completed surfaces of my work are the product of my desire to unite the conceptual intention with the physical knowledge and understanding gained initially through drawing.

I develop the drawings deliberately using memory rather than the actual subject.  It is vital to build a difference between the source and what one wants to make of it.  I understand my work more in terms of fine art and sculpture than pottery.

The actual making is a reflexive stage in the creation of a piece or a series of pieces.  Intaglio, silk screen and relief processes are equally as important as clay is to me.  When I print onto and into surfaces I am always aware of my choices of surface and the clay body is no less a part of this selection process.

The work is made with a variety of stoneware bodies and is biscuit fired to 1040°C, then fired to either 1180°C or 1260°C in an electric kiln.