My work has been described as having a very natural rustic finish with a sense of comfort and nostalgia.  I’m happy with that. Like many artists, my work is deeply influenced by instinct and emotion.  Drawing on the natural beauty that surrounds me in my everyday life, I try and create pieces of work that reflect the innate love and adoration I have for the natural world.  I constantly apply pattern and colour to my work, searching for inspiration from the flora and fauna of Eastern Perthshire where I live and work.  Although I tend to relate my work to the natural world, I am also receptive to whatever else catches my eye on my adventures, both at home and further afield.  

At the core of my designs is a desire to experiment with clay.  I love to explore different techniques and as such I work with clay in a variety of ways.  Some pieces are built using slabs of clay, which until quite recently I rolled out by hand with a rolling pin.  Thankfully nowadays I use a slab rolling machine to speed up the process.  Other pieces I slip cast using liquified clay in a plaster mould, a technique the French call ‘Coulee en bartotine’.  This allows me to produce multiple pieces that are a little more uniform in shape and size. Using this method, I can make work a little lighter or heavier depending on how I want to finish the piece.

Some of the designs on my work are made by stamping a pattern into the clay while it’s still a little damp.  I either use bisque stamps that I design and make myself or those available commercially.  Other designs are made by applying underglaze or underglaze decals to clay that is still slightly tacky -  again I either design and paint these myself or purchase commercially. Sometimes I will hand carve, sgraffito or slip trail a design onto a piece.  It really depends on what mood I’m in when I go into to the studio.  Every piece is then lovingly hand painted and/or individually glazed making each creation truly unique.