Helen’s work is inspired by the organic shapes and surfaces that she sees in the garden around her workshop. She often adds colour with Raku glazes or terra sigillata and then lets the smoke decorate the burnished surfaces of the pots.
Helen prefers to coil her shapes but will sometimes use a thrown form as a starting point. She likes the tactile and visual contrast of strongly textured surfaces next to smooth burnished ones.
The pieces are only fired to a relatively low temperature in a wood firing so that the smoke can be absorbed and then the smooth surfaces of her pots are polished with beeswax to preserve the decoration.
Helen is an active member of the Midlands Potters’ Association, the Sutton Coldfield Society of Artists, the Birmingham Art Circle, and a founder member of the Sutton Coldfield Art Trail. She has exhibited in selected exhibitions with these groups as well as open exhibitions at the RBSA.
Education History:
1956 – 1963 – Kidderminster Girls’ High School.
1963 – 1964 – Stourbridge College of Art – Foundation.
1964 – 1967 – Loughborough College of Art – Degree in 3D design (Ceramics).
1967 – 1968 – Bristol University – two Post-Graduate qualifications in education.
