The ‘decorative’ pots appear in my mind – sometimes when driving, sometimes during the night – they appear almost
complete. They are curved, as that is my aesthetic preference. My garden has curved beds, the shelves in my
office are rounded……… People expect me to say they are inspired by nature, seeing as how I live in such a
beautiful place but the truth is that the idea arrives as I’ve just said. Then I don’t draw it, I hold it in my mind somewhere until I have the time to carry it out. This is because I work. I work full-time, so it has to remain a pastime, which is frustrating but maybe one day I’ll be able to give it the time I’d like to and maybe need to.
The ‘leaf’ pots are obviously taken from the nature around me. I use the actual fern, grass or leaf and the making of these pots coincides with me being in a different emotional space from the more exotic ones.
The boxes are difficult to make, not least because they are an exception to the ‘rule’ as they aren’t curved – but I like the idea of a gift within a gift. The idea came from the 21st birthday cake I made my son. A square, white cake with a blue icing ribbon. I don’t often make these, as they are liable to ‘go wrong’ at some stage and also take a lot of time and patience that I don’t always have. But I still keep doing them because when they do work, they work well.
I’ve never wanted to learn to use the wheel. I like hand-building, being able make the pot asymmetrical is part of the aesthetic – yes they could be symmetrical but I don’t like that. Each pot is individual and while I have several styles – no pot is ever the same as another. I also take commissions, e-mailing the work in progress. If the end result isn’t to the client’s taste I keep it in the general stock rather than someone having a ceramic piece they don’t like.
I use stoneware clay. I have tried earthenware but don’t like the feel of it, nor the brightness of the glazes. I like the forgiving nature of the particular stoneware clay I use, as I fiddle and re-shape and distort it, often working it too fast when I feel particularly inspired and thus risking it collapsing and having to start again.
The choice of glaze reflects the emotional periods in my life, the matt white period, the brilliant white, the red ……. As stoneware glazes they have a natural hue, even the red.
That and the fact that I often use shells, feathers, wood… does reflect my love of nature and the roundness does too, nature is rarely angled.
I don’t feel like a real potter because I am largely self-taught – but I realise I am – the place in England where I buy my materials talk to me as one and are really helpful even with the seemingly most stupid of basic questions. I was teaching part time in England in the 70’s and went to afternoon classes, as I’d always drawn and painted and had spent a year at art school in New York at the end of the 60’s. In these afternoon classes I learned the basics but was always trying to do things I pictured in my head without knowing how to actually do them.
Going back to ‘time’ – the greatest part is often spent on getting the additions ‘right’: the length of ribbon, string … colour, size and shape of the bead, shell …… the aesthetic proportions preoccupy me – I’m never sure if others would notice a difference between a few millimetres or a nuance of blue but still I spend a lot of time getting it ‘right’ for myself. One of the reasons for the beads and trimmings I think stems from childhood; I wasn’t allowed gilt or trimmings on clothes. I remember a pair of sandals my mother gave in to and my joy at the white leather with gold studs across the front strap. Such things were considered ‘common’. I think I’m making up for that now. Many things in my home have beads and bits and bobs dangling from them. This is where the name – Quirkydotcom comes from. My daughter once described my general decorative style as ‘quirky’ – an observation rather than a criticism, I hasten to say.
The most asked question is “What is it for?” I had been annoyed by this need to say you could put in flowers or fruit – the need for it to have some use; until I found the answer. It isn’t for anything – if it attracts you then it’s for you