That Ilk Issue 2

What led you into working with ceramics?
At the age of sixteen while I was on a family holiday I
visited a stately home where there was a working
pottery. I was mesmerised watching the potters
throwing clay on the wheel and just knew that was
what I wanted to do. Luckily there was a small pottery
room in our art department at school and I was able to
get my hands on clay and start my lifelong journey as a
potter.
Define the style of your work and how did it
develop?
Most of my pots are ‘naked raku’ where the glaze is
removed after the smoke firing leaving behind the
smoked crackle marks on the smooth clay surface.
After being lightly polished it has a very tactile
eggshell look and feel. I love this natural stone-like
quality which blends with the driftwood I incorporate
to create my unique pieces.
The firing method has been developed from an
ancient Japanese technique used in the tea
ceremony and it has taken me many years to perfect
the particular effect that I want for my work. My main
inspiration for shapes and surfaces comes from
shores and beaches where I find ideas in the stones,
shells and wood I collect. It was a magic moment
when I thought of combining my bits of driftwood
into my pots. It brought the two sides of me
together, beachcomber and potter. I start with a
piece of wood and make a pot to suit it.
What is on your mind when you are
shaping/fixing an object in the art of kintsugi?
Kintsugi, the Japanese art of repairing pottery with
gold, is something I became interested in after a
recent visit to Japan. It is the idea of taking a broken
object and making it even more beautiful than it was
before. The Japanese have a totally different mindset
and aesthetic to us here in the west and it can be
hard to fully understand it.
I found a broken tile on the beach and repaired it
with gold and this has given it a completely new
appearance incorporating the gold lines into the
previous basic blue and white design. It is this
transformation from broken to precious that is
inspiring especially when this can be taken on in a
personal mindful way.
How does living where you do influence your
artwork?
Living here in Bearsden means it is so easy to go out
for inspiring walks in the countryside and also to the
Clyde coast where I love to walk along the
shorelines. In particular I like going back to my
favourite beaches around the Rosneath peninsula
where I spent many happy hours as a child
wandering along tide lines filling my pockets with
little ‘treasures’. Now I have a reason to collect all the
things I find, shells, stones, driftwood, broken pots
and anything that interests me.
"this transformation from broken
to precious is inspiring"
Where can people find your art/order objects
or commission work?
My pots are on sale in galleries across Scotland.
Locally I always have work on show at the Smithy
Gallery in Blanefield where my pieces are
sensitively displayed alongside wonderful
paintings. I often have work in exhibitions at the
Lillie Art Gallery in Milngavie as I am a member
of both Milngavie and Bearsden Art Clubs and a
member of the Glasgow Society of Women
Artists.
Mostly I show through galleries but I am happy
to take commissions. Work can be viewed on my
website: www.annemorrisonceramics.co.uk
P A G E F O U R | J O U R N E Y P A G E T H I R T E E N | T H A T I L K .