Title: I once heard
Size: 28cm height
Medium: Composite Pot

About the Artist


Artist's Statement

I graduated from Glasgow School of Art in 1987 with a BA(Hons) Degree in Ceramics. From 1988-1993 I was a member of The Dalhousie Lane Potters’ Studios, Glasgow, before moving to Dumfries in 1994. I am currently based in the Kilncraft Studios at Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries.

I have been a practicing ceramic artist for over thirty years and have always tried to maintain a playful approach to clay, allowing the material to be evident through torn edges, cracks, texture and surface, enjoying the random, organic quality this brings. The work must always have integrity at its core and the material itself, be clearly manifest in the finished work. I enjoy making pots and “the potness of the pot”; something to be handled and appreciated, in a tactile sense, not just through an aesthetic eye. I remain fascinated by the same themes, the interplay between positive and negative space, the layering and distressing of surface, the unpredictable and the accidental. These are constants in my work.

As well as continuing to work with clay, I have, over the last few years, diversified into 2D Mixed Media, repurposing old metal shelves, wooden pallets, anything with an interesting surface that can be modified and developed. Techniques used in my ceramics, have themselves been repurposed and reused in the 2D works and then reworked back into 3D. The sense of play remains and continues to guide my process.

Curriculum Vitae

1983-1984  Cumbria College of Art & Design, Carlisle

1984-1987  BA(Hons) Degree, Glasgow School of Art

1988-1994  Member of the Dalhousie Lane Potters’ Studios, Glasgow

Two-man/Solo Exhibitions

2019 The Ropewalk, Barton-upon-Humber, North Lincolnshire

2016 Catstrand, New Galloway

Pre-2008

Gatehouse Gallery, Glasgow

Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh

Blue Roof Gallery, Fintry

Crawford Arts Centre, St Andrews

Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries

Group Exhibitions

2018 Velvet Easel Gallery, Portobello

2018 Number 4 Gallery, St Abbs

2017 ‘Surge’, Patriothall Gallery, Edinburgh

2017 Velvet Easel Gallery, Portobello

2017 Art Exposure Gallery, Glasgow

2016 Mustard Gallery, Langholm

2016 4@Shambellie, Shambellie House, Dumfries

2016 ‘All Wrapped Up’, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries

2015 Mustard Gallery, Langholm

2015 Number 4 Gallery, St Abbs

2015 Mansfield Park Gallery, Glasgow

2014 MAKERS, Manchester Art Gallery

2014 Mustard Gallery, Langholm

2014 Craft Scotland Summer Show, Edinburgh Festival

2014 Craft Scotland Summer Show, London

2013 MAKERS, Manchester Art Gallery

2013 Craft Scotland Summer Show, Edinburgh Festival

2013 MAKERS Exhibition, CUBE Gallery, Manchester

2013 Gallery Ten, Edinburgh

2009 McGill Duncan Gallery, Castle Douglas

2009 ‘Homecoming’, Whitehouse gallery, Kirkudbright

2008 Group Show, Scottish Showcase Gallery, Kirkudbright

Group Exhibitions before 2008

Open Eye Gallery, Edinburgh

Compass Gallery, Glasgow

Opus#1, London

Stones & Samson, Glasgow

Gallery 41, Edinburgh

Mitchell Library, Glasgow

Courtyard Gallery, Crail

Castlegate House Gallery, Cockermouth

Duncan of Jordanston College of Art, Dundee

Collins Gallery, Glasgow

Broughton Gallery, Broughton

Dick Institute, Kilmarnock

Strathearn Gallery, Crieff

Garner Gallery, Glasgow

Gracefield  Arts Centre, Dumfries

Gossipgate Gallery, Alston

Ginger Gallery, Bristo

Ottersburn Gallery, Dumfries

Glasgow Print Studio Gallery

Terrace Gallery, Worthing

Commissions

2015 Commissioned by Dumfries Academy to produce a large ceramic memorial wall plaque about the life of ex-pupil Jane Haining who died in Auschwitz. The plaque is on permanent display on the walls of Minerva Hall at Dumfries Academy.

2014 Commissioned (in conjunction with poet Liz Niven and P4 pupils at Gatehouse Primary School) to produce 3 large ceramic wall panels for permanent display in Gatehouse Primary School.

1995 Nine commissioned plates, ABSA (Association of Business Sponsorship of the Arts) Scottish Awards, presented at Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum, Glasgow.

1992 Commissioned by Springburn Museum, Glasgow, to produce a large ceramic wall mural, in conjunction with secondary pupils from St Rochs Academy, Glasgow, on permanent display in Springburn Health Centre, Glasgow.

Other

2014-2019  Spring Fling, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries

2014 & 2015  Potfest in the Park, Penrith, Cumbria

2013 Craft Scotland, ‘Meet Your Maker’, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries

2013 Potfest in the Pens, Penrith

2009-2013 Spring Fling, Kilncraft Studios, Gracefield Arts Centre, Dumfries

2007-2008 Spring Fling, Studio, Dumfries