I established my studio and gallery in the North of Scotland in 1968. Exhibiting Internationally since 1965, I have works in public collections including the Museum of Fine Art, Copenhagen, Royal Scottish Museum, Edinburgh, Dundee Art Gallery and Museum, MacLaurin Gallery, Ayr and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.
My creative process involves a close, continuing and intense relationship with the landscape and wilderness of the Scottish Highlands, a part of which is long hikes into the mountains, bringing back materials such as rocks and sediments. By working directly with these materials in a raw and unrefined state, combined with different clays, I create sculptural forms which are direct responses to the materials' physical nature. The sculptures are then fired to 1300 C - white heat, undergoing physical alterations similar to the landscape's volcanic origins.
It is essential for me that the firing creates the conditions for the materials to become active again, reliving this metamorphoses. High risks are often taken during this process of melting rocks, glass, clay and sediment. Despite my knowledge, developed through numerous experiments, the excitement of this process drives me on to take calculated risks as I push these materials to an extreme where they will be irrevocably transformed. Finished ceramics include large dishes, bowls, tiles, wall panels, fountains, floating stones, book works, sculptures and works to commission. Studio work has led to installations and photo-works in the landscape.
