I woke up last night thinking about how, at a microscopic level, ceramics are about rearranging particles. Platelets of clay and the minerals within them form a constitution. They settle in certain ways, they are then shaped by the human hand and become fashioned into durable objects. They are part of a process of craft and organisation, combined. Most ceramic objects are acts of personal expression, forged by fire, that become built to last. Ceramics very often have a social purpose, as vessels that enable us to feed and as containers, into which can be poured the stuff of nourishment, be it ..read more

The story of how the Alter Piece figure was developed, from an initial sketch to the finished form, continues. From the start I wanted to realise it in as interesting a way as possible and, being a bit geeky, the moment 3D printing technology came along, I was into it. There's something amazing to me about being able to render a line on a page as an upright, self-supporting, neon-coloured piece of plastic. Using a 3Doodler pen, I drew over a slightly more finessed 2D version of the original illustration to render the shape for the first time as an upright figure. It was a fun time ..read more

Alter Piece original sketch The creative path is so often a multifaceted one. In the last year, this blog has been named as one of the world's Top 40 leading ceramic bloggers on Feedspot, an immense honour. Nestled next to the V&A in the list is a very exciting place to be! And one I once could have only dreamt of, so thank you, Feedspot. It's also very encouraging to read how people like my work when they write about it and the writing process is very much part of the creative process overall for me. As makers and creative humans, we noodle and doodle and play until things have meaning ..read more

It's taken a while getting it together because things have been busy in the studio over the past few months, but now I'm very pleased to say that I have a shop and it's open! Being able to make in the studio most days this year has enabled me to pull together the first set of [Alter Pieces]. There are fourteen in total, all of them are limited editions. I like the idea of endless permutations that are possible to make with the Alter Piece form and what it can be used to express over time, and will play with that as time goes on. The tablets are also now available as are a few one-off pieces ..read more

Most people who know me understand that I'm a bit of a geek. There's been a fascination I've had about computing, engineering, the digital world, art - and how they coalesce - for a long time. Being a kinesthetic person by nature, I'm also into how things feel in the hand, whether it's a bit of earth or a 3D pencil. All these things have come together as part of my first ceramics collection, which I've called [This Earthly Code] and it's going to be on show at The Gaolyard Studios in St Ives as part of this year's Summer Festival.  [This Earthly Code] is about fusing earthy, ele ..read more

Doble's clay pit, near St Agnes Head. I first sunk my hands into a ball of soft, buttery clay and turned it on a wheel two years ago. From that point, I was hooked. Clay bit me hard.  I find there's a special feeling of accomplishment that comes from making things, maybe it's because I've always been quite a practical and self-reliant person. My Dad was a do-er. I remember building a swimming pool with him in our garden completely by hand, using my old baby bath to mix up the cement when I was about ten. One way or another in my life, I've worked with a wide range of fabrics and m ..read more