Kiln Diary #02
KILN DIARY #02 – AUGUST 2020
“For me vessels can be messengers and communicators in our technology filled society; containers of ideas, protectors of intangible things and keepers of thoughts.”
Having just fired the kiln for the second time this month, today I am in the studio planning a new series of exhibition pieces. I like to begin by drawing and shaping ideas. I have been thinking about developing a new group of Keeper pots. These small lidded forms are not utilitarian in a traditional sense. They are containers with tiny openings and stoppers, their function is to explore ideas of safe-keeping, security and protection. They are places to keep our secrets safe. These will be available on our next online shop.
I have work featuring in two group exhibitions in August. Of Place and Time at the New Craftsman Gallery in St Ives, Cornwall and Land/Marks, Ceramics Ireland Triennial Exhibition 2020 at Farmleigh Gallery in Dublin.
The Memory Jars I have made for the exhibition at the New Craftsman Gallery are containers for the storage of past memories. Objects have the ability to absorb and carry layers of experience embedded within the spaces of the forms. I am interested in the usefulness of things. Vessels made for a contemporary context can be solitary and contemplative or ceremonial: for everyday or a special occasion.
Memory Jars
Guardian Vessel
Memory Jar
The Jar form is one of the most ubiquitous in ceramic history, used for storage, keeping and preserving. In my childhood, growing up in Northern Ireland, we called ceramic whisky bottles ‘stone jars’. They were a valuable commodity to a small child. If we were lucky enough to find one it could be traded in for cash. For me vessels can be messengers and communicators in our technology filled society; containers of ideas, protectors of intangible things and keepers of thoughts.
Pod Land Marks
OF PLACE AND TIME
NEW CRAFTSMAN GALLERY
St Ives, Cornwall
‘Of Place and Time’, brings together three artists working in distinctly different mediums; Ceramic Artist, Jack Doherty, Painter, Martha Holmes, and Woodturner, Adrian Mitchell. The work of all three shows their deep engagement with landscape and a particular sense of place.
1st August – 4th September 2020
Guardian Land Marks
CERAMICS IRELAND
LAND/MARKS - FARMLEIGH GALLERY
Phoenix Park, DUBLIN
I am delighted to have been selected for the Ceramics Ireland group exhibition. It is always a special occasion for me to send work to Ireland where I feel at home. I will be presenting a trio of soda-fired porcelain forms, including one of my Guardian Vessels, from the last firing.
Land/Marks continues the ethos of celebrating the diverse range and breadth of contemporary ceramic work being created by makers of and from Ireland. Land/Marks will feature works that explore and challenge the material clay, investigating its malleability and pushing its boundaries.
15th August – 31st October 2020
Link to website
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NOTES FROM THE STUDIO
My work is made using one clay, one mineral and a single firing. Over time the process has become simpler and more refined in the belief that stripping away the unnecessary can produce work with complexity and depth. I enjoy the fluid, sensual nature of porcelain combined with the freedom of throwing and hand-building. My firing technique is unique; a vital and dynamic process using soda as a catalyst to create a reaction with copper to produce a subtle palette of colour and texture closely integrated with the form.
