Best Ceramic Piece at Holmfirth Art Week 2024

There are moments…..

There are moments that feel like a labyrinth of forks in the path. Staring at a lump of clay in confusion and wonder in equal measure. Experience telling us where successes and failures tend to lie is one thing, but the margins that separate the formulaic process – the techniques we know that work to a satisfactory level – from the magical serendipity.  I love a happy accident but building another measured layer of experience into the next body of work is not necessarily where the magic happens. As an artist, I don’t get to make that choice. When that one piece is pulled from the kiln – and the first glimpse never lies – it cannot be repeated, it is just too special and the attempt should never be made. Commit it to photographic record and move on, using whatever you can take in order to progress.

Back to the lump of clay.

The possibilities are so endless it’s hard to comprehend. Look around to the “contemporary” “form”, “colour” and “decoration” and conform with a style that will almost certainly get you into the big, curated shows.

I’ve experimented with a more sculptural and form-based approach incorporating cut-out typography and Arabic Calligraphy and leaving the clay naked in true contemporary style. I have enjoyed this work and the technical challenges it poses though it is a complete departure from the work I have been creating since my degree show in 1992. Texture, Layers, Surface, Landscape, Strange Familiarity.

Recently, I submitted 10 pieces to Holmfirth Artweek as I have done for the best part of 25 years…..

There are affirming moments that happen at the time when we most need them, and this is definitely one of those moments! A wall piece, “Diptych: The Beating Of The Tracks” was selected for the award for Best Ceramics piece in the show. The range and quality of ceramics in the show was amazing and that is what makes this so special! Even better is the piece was also purchased by the judge who awarded the prize. Red dots appeared on five other submissions too.

There are moments….. when you realise the importance of continuing the development of a direction of work that you have always been true to and that defines you as an artist and maker. If it does not conform to the contemporary styles and ways, then so be it but what it does do is represent a tiny, quirky and individual mark on the world which I will never give up on.