Have you always been making with your hands?
Yes, since I was a child, tactility has been very important to me. I was always obsessed with imagery. When I would look at books or magazines the pictures were far more important to me than the text. The pure excitement of the moment of creation was my passion.
What drew you to clay?
Clay really is wondrous. When I first used clay, I realised that this material was something I had to master. I needed to understand the processes, skills and techniques that would transform this soft malleable and forgiving material into a hard and fixed ceramic form.
What is your inspiration for creating?
When I occasionally manage to create something that works especially well, there is a moment when all the struggles of the process of creation collapse into an epiphanous bliss. It is quite simply transcendent, calming and exciting; it is magical. It is the reason I continue.
What do you love most about your profession?
I enjoy the fact that my work is truly composed of the earth, from materials presumed to be of little value, inert, materials that are found everywhere. I love the idea that I am literally creating solid beauty from the dirt, dirt in all its mundane glory.