Potter Spotlight

What general skills & techniques do you use  (eg., throwing etc.,) ?

The work is slip cast porcelain, the moulds are made from rolled and sculpted clay models. Each piece is individually altered either when raw or at bisque.

To create the illustrated work the plain ‘blanks’ are bisque fired before a painstakingly hand drawn stencil is applied. After which, the piece is sandblasted until the design stands proud. The stencil is removed before high firing which allows the inherent translucency of the porcelain to create a soft silhouette visually as well as texturally. Finally they are diamond polished before being wired up.

Alternatively, the pieces are manipulated when soft out of the mould, piercings, bumps and dents are coaxed through the still malleable clay. The piece is then allowed to dry out before being fettled, sponged and bisque fired. After bisque the pieces are wet sanded to create a blemish free surface and either glazed with a crawling glaze that creates a texture like cracked earth or left naked to be diamond polished after a second firing. All my work is currently fired to 1250 °C in an electric kiln. I use Valentines Special Porcelain .