 My most memorable potting endeavour from childhood was at the age of fourteen, with clay dug from the garden. I threw three pots, glazed them, and fired them for 15 hours, in a wood fired kiln I had built on the site of the dig. I started Rainsbrook Pottery in 1995 from my garden studio in Rugby and initially produced high fired, promotional and commemorative stoneware, including several commissions for Coventry Cathedral. My enthusiasm for ‘raku’ firing however, resulted in me producing less and less stoneware and more ‘raku’, leading to my current situation of 'making little else'. I currently produce medium/large thrown and altered, one-off ‘raku’ vessels, which explore ‘space within form.’ In addition to making, I regularly teach groups of learning disabled, and older physically disabled students, and am involved in ‘raku’ workshops with a homeless group in Warrington. I also run weekly throwing lessons from my studio in Rugby, and weekend ‘raku’ workshops in the beautiful grounds of Newnham Paddox Nr Rugby. I exhibit regularly, and am a member of The Midland Potters Association and the Tantalus Project. |