I’m most happy with the large platter – with its chaotic surface – as I think it captures rhythm and balance as well as a narrative. Its icons and colours challenge the viewer to find meaning and stories within the piece. And that’s exactly the emotional space (in me) that it represents – when everything is mad and exhausting, and we are searching for meaning and peace. So I feel the greatest level of artistic integrity with this work. The colourful surface was achieved over multiple firings.

This is new, and I feel like I have just scratched the surface – you’ll be seeing more additions (or ‘sprigs’ as they are called) and cut-outs in the future. The process of adding and removing means I have to plan where I am going with the surface at the time of forming the piece in clay – which is very early in the process. There is a small window of time with clay when you can cut and add. Adding colour comes well after that. So I have to know right from the outset where I’m going with the piece decoratively. That’s challenging for me as I usually work solely by intuition. But I like the outcome.

Don’t worry about the rules, or the right or wrong way, or not having the tools or space. Make things out of clay anyway. If you love the medium like I do, you will find learning every time you work with it. I believe the deepest learning in clay comes from doing, not watching or reading or knowing.

I pretty much just go out to the studio as soon as the children have left for school, and stay there as long as I can get away with! Without sounding smug, I’ve never really had a problem with creative drought. There are always SOOOOO many things to try, to test, to explore in clay. Sometimes the urgency and volume of ideas can be quite anxiety causing! Often times it’s like a time warp as soon as I step in to the studio – time passes so quickly, and then it's suddenly time to go back inside the house and do normal Mum things.