Saharan Treasure II Print

I was born in Paddington, London, but spent my formative years in Sri lanka and returned to the UK with my family when I was 7. The unspoilt nature that was the Garden of Eden which I remember as my playground at our home in Sri Lanka has left a lasting influence on me. I grew up in the 70's and 80's in Essex with my family and graduated from the University of Dundee. After initially following a career as an accountant, in 2003 I embarked on my long term passion for art and creativity that I had since childhood. Although I am largely self taught, I studied further into ceramics at the University of Hertfordshire in 2008 and City Lit London in 2014 and picked up skills from studio potters here in the UK, as well as in Sri Lanka, Nepal and Japan. My mum was a dressmaker and designer and I have fond memories of my preschool years spent at her dressmaking school playing with her students and the colourful fabrics, which was my initial introduction to creativity. I also remember being encouraged to make the toys we played with from coconut shells and all matter of plant materials found/that fell from the trees in our garden in Sri lanka by my nanny. My love of ceramics eventually took me to Japan in 2003 to observe the various ceramic techniques and works of the famous potter Soji Hamada in Mashiko. There I acquired the techniques and confidence of working with different materials, which enabled various forms of expression. My work consists of unique and original handmade pieces made from stoneware and porcelain clay. I fire my work in an electric kiln in my studio. The first firing is to 1000c and the final stoneware firing is usually from 1260c to 1300c. I use stoneware clay as it fires high, which enables it to be waterproof, and has a strength and durability that I like, and compliments the experimental way in which I work, pushing the materials to their limits. I use various techniques and surface decoration to create the illusion of age and decay through the passage of time. Some of the pieces are decorated by glazes that I have made from raw materials found within my local surroundings and the body of some items has within them the clay from the soil in my garden in Hertfordshire. In using the same methods and materials as the ancient masters and manipulating the medium in this way it gives me a unique perspective and insight into the world of the forgotten craftsman of a bygone age.