I produced my first sgraffito on a stoneware fish bowl around ten years ago and displayed it in the exhibition, 'Impressions', that I organised with potter Isabelle Rouaze at her studio in rural Burgundy. My friend, Karine, fell in love with the pot and bought it (she still has it displayed on a shelf in her country kitchen), but a whole lot of other people liked it too so hence began a decade of carving Koi carp into vessels of various functions and forms!
Having branched out into constructing ceramic lamp bases, fully wired and ready for use, I have been getting used to packaging and shipping my products to various locations across the globe. I have hand-built enormous decorative fruit bowls for the adornment of tables and sideboards, thrown vases for flower displays, tiny lidded jewellery boxes, and even an extravagant tea-pot which has finally found its home in Berlin.
This design reflects my love of textile design and print, recalling Japanese kimonos and the subtle colour way of traditional woodcuts by Hokusai. I don't know whether it's because I am a piscean, but I have always had a bit of a fascination with fish and water. I love the way my fish always seem so free, totally at ease, even when fired onto hard-baked clay and coated in silica, their elemental spirit always fluid, energetic and unconstrained.
Comments