I make wheel-thrown decorative and functional stoneware in simple, elegant forms with a subdued and gentle colour palette.

My appreciation of pared-back design and natural materials is integral to the development of my own visual language. I am influenced by places and things to which I am drawn – the curve of a hill or colour of a wall, wide open spaces, the sea and sky, sand and pebbles.

​My practice is guided by my belief that good craftsmanship involves care, skill and attention and I hope that this is evident in my work.

​I have always loved making things, although my passion for clay was slow to begin. We rarely got the chance to use it at school, and when we did, I had no idea what to do with it. However, when I discovered the potter’s wheel on my Art and Design Foundation course, I was hooked, and went on to complete my degree in Ceramic Design at Staffordshire University in the 1990’s. I later spent some time working with a studio potter in Dorset, and another in Sheffield, which improved my throwing skills. Soon afterwards though, I moved away from making ceramics, and worked in an art and craft gallery for over 15 years, which fed my visual appetite, but eventually left me hungry to get back to making. I went to pottery classes and a porcelain workshop and rediscovered the joy of working with clay.

I bought myself a wheel and a small kiln, and set up my first studio in the spare bedroom. After a couple of years of messy floors and clay-covered door handles, I now work in my small (but perfectly formed) garden studio, on the outskirts of Sheffield, England.

‘One day you finally knew what you had to do, and began.’ From The Journey by Mary Oliver.

Studio and practice

I make one-off pieces, usually vases and bowls, and small batches of tableware.

Form and proportion are my foundation, with much time spent observing and tweaking the necks and shoulders of my bottle vases in particular. Surface treatment is kept simple, usually only one glaze on each piece, with little or no further decoration, in order to enhance rather than detract from the form.

I make a range of glazes, and colours such as ‘slate’, ‘pebble’, ‘sand’ and ‘stone’ make up my palette. I also use a variety of clays, for subtle variations in texture and colour.

I have completed commissions for Michelin-starred chefs, including Mark Birchall at Moor Hall in Lancashire, Alex Bond at Alchemilla in Nottingham and Tommy Banks at Roots, York.