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Smoke-fired

A collection of work that draws inspiration from the landscapes and geology around North Wales. Curves and hollows that appear on a piece echo the undulations of a hillside, a round seed pod or a water-eroded stone. Each piece is fired using the ancient method of outdoor smoke firing which is used both to fire raw clay into durable ceramic and also to decorate it with smoke. (This method of firing can be found historically in ceramic communities across the world and is still practised with immense skill and generational knowledge in many places including New Mexico, India and West Africa.)
Decoration of the pieces comes from the treatment of the clay and the smoke-firing process rather than commercial glazes and oxides which are extremely hard to trace. The fuel for the outdoor smoke firings is sourced from garden cuttings, a local tree surgeon and a local woodworking studio that specialises in traditional timber framing. Each object is finished with olive oil or a natural sealant produced in North Wales. I favour this firing process when working with ceramics as it enables me to use burnishing techniques, fine clay slips and the firings to create finishes on a piece rather than untraceable oxides and glazes.


Type: Collection
Location: North Wales
Date: 2022-2023
Material: Iron-rich clay manufactered by Potclays using 100% UK-sourced raw materials, olive oil and beeswax