I studied jewellery at Middlesex University,1986 – 91, followed by a Diploma in Applied Arts at the University of Ulster in 1992. While working in the fashion industry making jewellery and accessories for Jessica Ogden, I always had a curious interest in clay and ceramics.
This lead me to join an evening course at the University of Ulster in order to learn the process of working with clay.
The pieces I make are formally irregular. Some slightly crooked and tell of their making. For me they are mediums for my exploration of colour.
I use porcelain clay with coloured slips, randomly selected, before applying an underglaze of almost jewel – like embellishment.
As the fashion industry works to the turn of seasons, I continue to respond to that calendar, but in a more organic way.
My work responds to the rhythm of the natural environment in which I live and work: my garden at home amid the surrounding Mourne Mountains. For me the pieces evolve out of my domestic life.
