About

A few years after graduating from St. Martin’s in the late sixties I started to make work using recycled old canvases. I cut out shapes, added new colours  from freshly dyed pieces and sewed them into large abstract configurations. I worked on the floor juxtaposing the shapes and colors; it felt as if I was making flat sculpture and  this intuitive way of working suited me. I had many shows and the work was included in most public collections.

Later attempts to build the shapes out in three dimensions failed as the canvas flopped and a friend suggested I try using clay for a while. It was love at first sight and slowly took over my practice. 

Technically I found the work very easy, cutting out flat shapes and making something with them I have always kept to simple basics  using low fired clay and simple glazes. I began with groups of small objects and later made lights, screens, wall decorative panels, boxes, plant pots, coat hangers and coat racks, dustpan and brushes and more. I like making something for a specific use, such as a shoe holder which can be set in a wall. I often use wood and metal in collaboration with clay; lids for boxes for example or wooden legs for clay table tops. I have also worked on clay shapes set in cement for table tops or doorsteps.

In 1986 I moved to Ollioules in the South of France and then in 2006 to Taroudant, Morocco. 

I was very inspired by the simple mud architecture in the surrounding villages and the inventiveness of people who lead such simple lives. In 2011 I found a farm near Taroudant where I have half living space and half studio made in mud. For me an ideal living space is somewhere where the functional aspects are integrated into the architecture and shelves are carved into the walls.

CV