Digital Photography – Image versus Object

An edited digital image of a pair of my ceramic shoes.    Like many of us during the Covid-19 ‘lockdown’ I have been tidying, sorting and revisiting past work as well as doing a spot of ‘housekeeping’ on my digital files.  This has meant sifting through, reviewing and deleting  thousands of images that have accrued in recent years. I have … Read More

Lest we forget

‘Curation’ – ‘Lest we forget’   This little figure, with her head bowed and a far away look in her eye, is the personification of contemplation and mindfulness. Made entirely from found objects, she wears a little ceramic ‘helmet’, her neck is glass and her body a broken vase decorated with faded foliage and a bird motif.  She was inspired, … Read More

The Burning of the Leaves

Autumn Leaves As I write this we are fast approaching bonfire night.   All around the country people are heaping up leaves, twigs and acorns and buying Sparklers. If you follow my Instagram posts you will have noticed that I love the myriad forms and colours of autumn. This is the season I enjoy the most and perhaps it is no … Read More

Clay Pipes

Clay Pipes I come across numerous clay pipes – or fragments of them – on the foreshore. They are a common find for mud-larkers as most working men smoked tobacco in ‘days of yore’. What is fascinating is that they come in so many sizes, shapes and designs. The one with the Buffalo Head and letters RAOB (Royal Antedeluvian Society … Read More

The Lost Sheep

‘Curation’ – ‘The Lost Sheep’ Sometimes the forms of my foreshore finds suggest something to me the minute I see them. In this instance I found a piece of rough textured ceramic with an ‘ear’ attached.   Back in the studio I partnered it with a cloud-shaped fragment of painted polystyrene which I’d had for a while and a few bits … Read More

Foreshore Finds

Foreshore Finds I spend a great deal of time looking at and recording surface textures and patterning. My instagram feed is testament to this. Here are a few pieces of Victorian china – fragments of broken plates, cups and other ceramic wares – that I have picked up on my mud-larking trips.   I collect odd shapes as well as colourful … Read More

Pipe Dream

‘Curation’ – ‘Pipe Dream’ The piece shown above is composed from the head of a figurine, an old clay pipe and a piece of seaweed.  Each ‘assemblage’ or ‘curation’ is photographed before being dismantled into its component parts for re-use or re-incorporation into different forms. This strikes me as the most appropriate and sustainable way of working with these unique … Read More

Boy with Boat

‘Curation’- ‘Boy with Boat’ The assemblages (or ‘curations’ as I like to call them) that I have been creating over recent months – are composed of fragments I have found, foraged, mud-larked or beachcombed.  Each component is placed, arranged and re-arranged, often many times, until I achieve an outcome that resonates. They can take the form of abstract utensils, mythological … Read More

A Good Listener

‘Curation’ – ‘A Good Listener’ Since moving to this part of Kent I have become a regular mud-larker.  The Thames Estuary is rich in fragments of history from Neolithic times to the present day.  I often take myself for walks along the foreshore and have amassed an interesting collection of ‘finds’.  I enjoy displaying these, playing around with them and … Read More

Listen

‘Curation’ – ‘Listen – you can hear the sea’ Like many artists and makers I am fascinated by found objects – both natural and manmade – but primarily those found in the landscape around my home. I am a compulsive collector – “a snapper up of unconsidered trifles”- and also of books, ephemera and artwork – drawings, paintings, prints and … Read More