Thrown forms with crystalline glazes
During 2025, I’ve immersed myself in the study of glaze chemistry and become fascinated by the possibilities of Zinc Silicate crystalline glazes. My work has focused on exploring and documenting how subtle adjustments in chemistry influence colour, pattern, and crystal growth.
To better understand how these glazes behave, I began throwing simple forms that provide a consistent surface for testing. This allowed me to observe how the glaze flows and settles across both vertical and horizontal planes. Adapting the recipes and firings so that they stop cleanly at a defined edge.
This process reveals an extraordinary spectrum of colour and pattern. I’m inspired by the potential of this glaze type and the endless opportunities it offers for discovery and creative expression.
Handbuilding and Faceting
During 2024, my practice centred around the creation of stoneware vessels, developed through a combination of making techniques. I focused particularly on faceting, a process I’m deeply drawn to, where firm clay is sliced and pared back to reveal the newly chiseled surface beneath. This physical action became central to the work.
Each piece brought together a unique combination of throwing, hand-building and carving, resulting in forms with their own distinct charm. These vessels explored the tension between irregular, hand-carved contours with more centred qualities created from throwing on the wheel.
All of the work was glazed using personally formulated recipes, selected for how they interact with each of the shapes. I was interested in how glazes move and settle across the form, responding to their geography. The palette was drawn from the muted tones and textures of the natural landscape and coastline, expressed through a coherent range of finishes, matte, glossy, and crystals created by calcium.
Plaster work and slip casting
Between 2022 and 2023, I shifted my practice to focus on plaster and slip casting in porcelain. I began by creating plaster models on the lathe, some of which were then hand-carved with an illustrative relief inspired by the decorative qualities of Victorian tiles. These original forms were used to produce moulds, allowing for the repeated casting in porcelain slip.
After bisque firing, the pieces were finished with tinted translucent glazes. The glazes were carefully selected to enhance the surface texture and depth of the relief, while maintaining the functionality of each object.
