Profile ~ Artists Statement:
I love clay. I love the feel of it in my hands, wedging it into the correct consistency for the job I am about to do, the smooth fluidity of it on the wheel, the ease and satisfaction of turning a foot ring into a pot that is at just the right stage of leather hardness. I love the way my pouring slips stick to a leather hard pot and the way the excess runs off like cream while the trailing slips sink gently into the freshly applied base layer. I love the way my sgraffito tool runs cleanly through a layer of semi-dry white slip to reveal the deep red of the clay body underneath. I love the potential for creativity and the fact that the pots that I make can in turn be used to make and serve food and drink.
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to make things. As a child it was collages in scraps of paper, sock puppets, and woven and embroidered fabrics. It wasn’t until I went to university and became inspired by my tutor that I realised just how fabulous a material clay can be. Alex McErlain my tutor is an enthusiast of thrown functional pottery and he quickly passed on that enthusiasm and enjoyment to me. After completing my degree I spent eighteen months working as an apprentice and learning an incredible amount about my craft with Jason Shackleton at Laurieston House Pottery near Dumfries, this is how I made the move from Lancashire to southwest Scotland.
In 2003 with the help of the Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust I set up my own pottery, originally at Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries and now near Castle Douglas. I am now making my living by making and selling pots and it is the best thing I can think of to do for a living. I cycle each day a couple of miles down the road through beautiful countryside and spend my day doing what I love. Bliss!
The converted barns here at Lochdougan are also home to fine artist Bea Last and willow artist Lizzie Farey and the conbination of different materials, approaches and styles makes for an interesting and vibrant group, especially come the end of May each year for the Spring Fling, Dumfries and Galloway's annual open studios event.
Please also visit my blog for a view of what is happening at the moment in my pottery. www.hannahmcandrew.blogspot.com
I love clay. I love the feel of it in my hands, wedging it into the correct consistency for the job I am about to do, the smooth fluidity of it on the wheel, the ease and satisfaction of turning a foot ring into a pot that is at just the right stage of leather hardness. I love the way my pouring slips stick to a leather hard pot and the way the excess runs off like cream while the trailing slips sink gently into the freshly applied base layer. I love the way my sgraffito tool runs cleanly through a layer of semi-dry white slip to reveal the deep red of the clay body underneath. I love the potential for creativity and the fact that the pots that I make can in turn be used to make and serve food and drink.
For as long as I can remember I have wanted to make things. As a child it was collages in scraps of paper, sock puppets, and woven and embroidered fabrics. It wasn’t until I went to university and became inspired by my tutor that I realised just how fabulous a material clay can be. Alex McErlain my tutor is an enthusiast of thrown functional pottery and he quickly passed on that enthusiasm and enjoyment to me. After completing my degree I spent eighteen months working as an apprentice and learning an incredible amount about my craft with Jason Shackleton at Laurieston House Pottery near Dumfries, this is how I made the move from Lancashire to southwest Scotland.
In 2003 with the help of the Princes Scottish Youth Business Trust I set up my own pottery, originally at Gracefield Arts Centre in Dumfries and now near Castle Douglas. I am now making my living by making and selling pots and it is the best thing I can think of to do for a living. I cycle each day a couple of miles down the road through beautiful countryside and spend my day doing what I love. Bliss!
The converted barns here at Lochdougan are also home to fine artist Bea Last and willow artist Lizzie Farey and the conbination of different materials, approaches and styles makes for an interesting and vibrant group, especially come the end of May each year for the Spring Fling, Dumfries and Galloway's annual open studios event.
Please also visit my blog for a view of what is happening at the moment in my pottery. www.hannahmcandrew.blogspot.com
