A Professional member of The Craft Potters Association Sally is continually fascinated by people - "I'm a great observer of people and thrive on interaction with others. I explore the human condition by modelling the female form from clay; changing the mood and feeling of a piece by the positioning of a shoulder or hand.
“In a world where so much energy is put into noticing the differences between people, I look for the feelings, desires, mannerisms we all share, elevating the ordinary into something special. We are all so curious.”
As a child I took delight in poking sticks into the ritual bonfire of a weekend. Little did I appreciate as an adult I'd have bonfires for a living! My smoke firings are fast and have a lot of flames, really more flames than smoke. I use wood shavings and newspaper and the firing lasts around 10 minutes. Hot blackened figures are precariously lifted out of the flames and left to sizzle on the grass. When cool the figures are cleaned and waxed. It's a wonderfully exciting and smelly process. A frozen moment of fire captured in the surface patina of the figures."
Having smoke fired for 12 years; Sally has recently rediscovered glazes. Prompted into action by a desire to create large scale outdoor pieces - "I'm developing a range of work using underglaze colours mixed with engobe and fired to 1260'. I'm drawn to the colours found in the Greek terracottas from the second century BC. Surfaces that show experience, having been eroded and fragmented. When I apply the glaze it's very much like painting. It's a very spontaneous process which fits with the way I hand build."
