Drawing on memories of growing up near the sea on the Isle of Wight and a magpie tendency to collect stones and rocks, my work sits somewhere between sculpture and function.

The use of clay with its basic connection to the earth, pleases me. The process needed to create a work forces me to slow down and take in the small details, providing a rewarding contrast to the fast technological pace of today's world, often with surprising results. I take inspiration from the sea battered coasts of the UK, Brittany and the bleak landscapes of Cumbria, finding fragments that hint at stories lost in the mists of time.

My recent ceramic work is smoke fired, where the clay has no glaze but takes on markings during the process. Each piece is worked by hand to create the form and the finished surface, which is sometimes burnished with a smooth stone repeatedly as it dries. I fire the work to a temperature of around 1000ºC and when cool, surround the pieces with sawdust which burns gradually from above. The smoke leaves carbonised atmospheric patterns making each piece unique, with its own story to tell.