Techniques

I make up a porcelain slip and add flax, recycled newsprint and recycled nylon fibres. I divide this slip into a number of containers and to each I add oxides to give both colour and texture.

Onto a large board I swish my mixture of porcelain, fibre and oxides.

I build up layer upon layer, waiting for each layer to dry before adding the next.

Like watercolour painting, each layer adds texture and colour and interacts with one another.

Once the final layer is almost dry, I turn the layers over and use as a slab to create a piece of work.

The application of terra sigillata to areas lowers the opacity of the underlying colours and this together with the addition of non contrived swishes and sploshes of clear and coloured glazes gives the surface more quality of change and decay.

The trickiest bit is yet to come –the firing.

I continue to experiment with the firings because not all of my work is in tact after firing. The thickness, size and height of my work has an impact together with the position in the kiln and obviously the final temperature and time at that temperature.