The space before making

Where to Start? What to make? When I’m holding a bag of raw clay I feel the potential for what it could become. The possible variations of size, shape, surface decoration and function feels infinite...

That first spark of inspiration... it can be a difficult thing to embark on when there are so many possible beginnings. While that blank piece of paper might look intimidating, once that first line is down, thoughts can start to flow. The idea now has roots, something that can grow little shoots of thoughts, expanding, exploring, imagining. Many of these green shoots won't bear fruit but will support the evolution of an idea. The beauty of creativity is that it is a never-ending process of growth and learning.

My Starting points are many! I look to early Irish pottery to inspire the forms, curves and balance of my functional ware. Although these ancient pots were mainly coil built and pit fired, a process that puts the clay under a lot of stress, our ancestors achieved an extraordinarily delicate finish to their vessels. They left the marks of their hands on their work, as we still do today, on our own handcrafted pottery.

I look to my surroundings for inspiration on surface decoration and Glaze colour. I’m lucky to live here, where I can wander down the fields and find myself surrounded by the natural world and its abundance of colours and textures, ever changing through the seasons (and the weather!) All of these help to form that first line on my blank page, help to energise and inspire and feed my creativity.