"I began my life as a ceramic designer 40 years ago after completing a BA in design and ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent. At the time the pieces were created and then fired in a kiln in a corner of the kitchen. The local newspaper branded me the "kitchen potter"! In 1996 we bought a house with land and outbuildings in a valley north of Carmarthen in West Wales. Here I could live the life I had long dreamt of, growing organic vegetables, planting an orchard, keeping bees, conserving wild flower meadows - and making and decorating ceramics. I drew the nature around me - flowers, insects, fungi and fruit - straight onto my pots, like a painter who had found his expression through ceramics. People sometimes comment that my depictions carry the very essence or spirit of the plant.
My work has constantly evolved. I experiment by creating forms in different and unusual ways, making vases, bowls and plaques of varying sizes by folding sheets of white earthenware clay, or by press-moulding clay into asymmetrical forms. I frequently employ tubelining (a fine line of slip applied across the design to delineate the plant forms) before the first firing, bringing a tactile three dimensional quality to the finished piece.
I have also experimented over many years with lustre glazes. A mere handful of potters work with lustre, since it is a complex and unpredictable process requiring several firings, the results even varying depending on the position of the piece in the kiln. Sometimes the finished product is disappointing, while at other times a piece emerges from the kiln shimmering with other-worldly iridescent hues, which makes all the effort and heartache worthwhile.
Although the mainstay of my work is, and always has been floral, I also make a range of Faceforms and abstract designs. I exhibit in galleries and participate in ceramic and craft shows throughout England and Wales. I also work on commission, and have an online shop serving customers and collectors of my work all over the world."