Welcome to the eighth in my Three Questions series, where I ask makers about their creative practices. I’ve admired Cathy’s ceramics from afar for ages, especially those featuring motifs from crafty pursuits. With their clever designs and delicate colouring, they are things of beauty. I’m so pleased to be able to feature her work here.
Cathy makes hand-built, decorative ceramics full of colour and pattern, influenced by designs and motifs found in the wide range of textile arts, particularly quilting. She also loves folk art and makes quirky folk-art figures.
How did you get started on your creative path?
“Maybe I was just born creative; it certainly didn’t come from my family background which was heavily focussed on academic achievement and not artistic pursuits. Nevertheless, from childhood onward, I have always found the utmost joy and satisfaction in making things.
“Once my children were at high school, I found enough free time to start pottery classes and from then on I was hooked. My hands just seemed to instinctively know what to do. I took what I could from the course and taught myself the rest. Some time later I bought a kiln and began to make and sell my own work, initially through galleries, but now exclusively online.”
What satisfies you about the creative work you do?
“Making ceramics brings me joy on so many levels. I am never short of new ideas and nurturing them into being and watching them come alive through the various stages of the making process is so satisfying. Opening the kiln to reveal a new batch of finished work is always a huge thrill.
“I love working with clay – it is such a tactile and responsive medium for creative expression. Making pottery brings me calm and happiness, and knowing that it makes others happy too, and that my pieces have found new homes all over the world, is just everything to me.”
How do you stay inspired to create?
“I cannot remember not being inspired to create. There have been times when I have taken on too much and the stress of that can impact genuine creativity and enjoyment. But otherwise, I see ideas all around me. The world is full of patterns, natural and manmade, and design and colour combinations, and shapes, and textures, and light, and shadow, and beauty. How could one not be continually inspired?”
Follow Cathy online
Thank you Cathy, for sharing insights of your creative life.
Truly beautiful, Cathy.