Upland Clay - Keswick Pottery

My work

I am a full time ceramic artist living and working on the edge of the Lake District National Park. I divide my days between my studio at Crofton Hall/Cumbria and the fells surrounding my village at the back of the Northern Fells, 20 min from Keswick.

I teach wheel throwing pottery courses in a purpose built bright, spacious, state of the art studio with easy access from Keswick, Carlisle and Cockermouth areas. Please see me course page for dates and details. If you’re travelling from Keswick or surrounding areas, expect free parking, cafe on site, large professional pottery studio and expert tuition from an experienced teacher.

My work focuses hugely on the process and its representation in the final vessels. I leave heavy making marks on my work, exaggerated throwing lines, indents made by my fingers, dimples, wire cuts and alterations.

I think of my vessels as snapshots of the process, a frozen-in-time movement, results of forces used to turn lumps of soft clay into an object, a testament to the malleability of the medium.

Inspiration

I am drawn to remote and wild places both in my home county of Cumbria as well as Scotland, especially Dumfries and Galloway and the boarders region. I am fascinated by abandoned man-made structures, derelict bridges, huts, mines - structures built with purpose and effort being slowly reclaimed by the prevailing forces of nature.

Cumbria has a rich history of mining dating back to the 12th century. The rusting remains of many slate and metal mines are scattered throughout the valleys and fells of the Lake District and Pennines and are a constant reminder of the long gone (in Cumbria) industry.

The rust and glory of the old machinery, cart tracks, cables and pulley systems, abandoned miners huts and old miners roads, the emotional charge left in those places speak of solitude and loneliness but also purpose. They are both scars and beauty marks, reminders of the deliberate processes that shaped the landscape around them.

Materials

My tableware range is made with high fired stoneware clay rich in Iron oxide (essentially rust). I develop my own glazes from raw materials and produce colours using metal oxides, mainly iron oxide and a touch of cobalt oxide.

My porcelain range is a limited edition line which enables me to explore the minimalist part of my personality though simple lines and stark contrasts.

In early 2020 I accidentally came across a wild clay deposit not far from my home and I am working to implement this raw material into my range through a limited edition work made purely with wild clay and glazed with a specially developed glaze using local minerals.

Me

I like starting my day with a freshly brewed tea/coffee on the fells. In the summer, I like to hike up one of the fells above my village for sunsets with a book. I enjoy teaching, as much as I enjoy wheel throwing. I like a day strolling around Keswick or Cockermouth as much as I enjoy a quiet day on the Lake District fells. I'm not a fan of very crowded places.

I enjoy running, hiking, climbing and wild camping. I liked bothies before they were cool.