As a potter, teacher and designer for thirty years, my ideas for pots are based on images from travel and the immediate environment of my garden. The study of plants and observations of their growth and habit; the actual leaf or stem and more general observations of decay and change of the seasons give ideas for pots and sculpture. My aim is to make pots and sculptures which have the same complete ‘rightness’ that is found in plants. Each plant has a structure and habit unique to it and any deviation from that would be immediately apparent. Containers for plants which relate in form, colour and texture to plants and their natural environment are a mainstay of my stoneware production. Some pots are about the material itself. How clay reacts to pressure when soft or hard is a recent theme. Other work is about process; of the effect of smoke and fire on the clay; of shine and mat; opaque or transparent; thick or thin. I have made boxes for as long as I can remember. I like their covetable forms and the element of surprise when some ‘gem’ is found inside. The location of the lid and the quality of the fit is of continual intrigue to me. Pots are made in series sometimes evolving over months or years.

I hold exhibitions twice yearly at my home in Sale. The next exhibition will be on the 8th-11th May 2008.