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| I moved to England in 1958 with my Mother, two sisters and three brothers and stayed in London until 1960 when we moved to Dunstable when my father found work and housing in the Luton area. More children arrived and soon there were 11 children and a very chaotic lively household. I left home aged 16 because I needed space. I was always drawing from a very early age as a form of play, and two things stick out quite noticeably, the first was avoiding good natured micky taking by the use of drawing caricatures of usually my brothers. This helped to take the focus of attention from me! The second was being introduced to clay as a material for the first time at school. I had a passion for history as a child and in particular the Roman Empire and I made a Roman Soldiers head in Red Terracotta clay. This was the first time I had made a three dimensional object and it was a great experience which encouraged me to make toys and random sculptural forms. Having worked in construction when I first left school, the first job was an excavation that required heavy digging machines. While they scooped out the soil I noticed a seam of clay, when the opportunity presented itself I jumped down into the excavation and clawed out a few handfuls which I modelled into small clay heads. I really love hand-building, but equally I love throwing bowls on the wheel, I is a very relaxing process and it feels like a form of meditation almost, especially when one uses porcelain that is so smooth almost liquid quality. There are many ceramic artists I admire and also artists from the world of fine art amongst others Peter Hayes, Hans Cooper and Peter Beard. I have have recently been commissioned by celebrity chef Jean-Christophe Novelli to be his artist in residence at his Hertfordshire farmhouse. |
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