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I have always known that I would need to make a living form
my pottery, and that I wanted to explore Clay in a creative
way .
From 1975 when I established my own studio, I have produced
both domestic tableware and ceramic art pieces. I believe
tableware must be well designed, to be both functional and
artistically pleasing. Decoration has always been a feature
of my work, and in this period I often used stylized images
of native flora. The decoration of my art pieces often
reflected my New Zealand environment.
I have always been interested in raw materials and I
spent time exploring the local area where there are deposits
of clays, granite, feldspar, dolomite and lime. This
interest led me to developing my own clay bodies and then to establishing a clay company making a range of stoneware and
terracotta clays, initially for our own use, but then for
sale throughout New Zealand and overseas. We now produce 8
clay bodies including low fired white stoneware, porcelain
and paper clay.
My earliest art pieces were from thrown forms sometimes
altered. These were decorated with colored slips, dry clay,
texturing and scoring of the surface to reflect our alpine
environment with snow, alpine lakes and the muted colors of
unique area of new Zealand. I also produced tile panels with
these same images a; lied These New Zealand images were also
to appear on other works using soft glazes and extensive
brushwork.
With the equipment for clay production available to me I was
able to develop porcelain clay. I had been painting on paper
at this time and wanted to create the same watercolor effect
on porcelain pots. To this end I experimented with a number
of techniques and discovered colored sulphates . I used these
in conjunction with wax and fine lining to achieve this
watercolor effect. I produced both round and smooth shapes
and large clay slabs. Often I would add highlights of color
in a third firing.
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