Calla Lilies

As a keen gardener, I love plants and I am fascinated by the miriad of shapes, colours and textures of the plant world.
One flower which has always fascinated me is the Calla lily (or Zantedeschia aethiopica for the pedants amongst us). I have tried to grow the plant, but with limited success, here is a photo of one of the few flowers it has produced.

So being unable to grow the real thing, when I started my evening class in ceramics, I decided to make some for the garden. Having loved using sketchbooks to research all my ideas during my Access course, I have continued with this practise and started my Calla lilies with some preliminary sketches.

From these I then made 5 ceramic lily heads which I mounted on copper tubing inserted into an oak base.

These now live happily in my garden and flower all year!

A friend saw this work in my sketchbook and loved them so much that she commissioned me to make two sets for her to give as presents, so here they are in my garden before being sold.

Vases

Here are a selection of vases which I have made over the past few years

textured 'squiggle' vase (~15cm)

Divided vase (~50cm)

Heart vase with 'sea glass' (~35cm)

white incised vase (~20cm tall)

Speckled vase (~10cm)

Pierced porcelein vase (~6.5cm)

A little history

For as long as I can remember I have loved drawing, painting and making things. Unfortunately my school was too restricting to allow me to study Art A Level as well as Physics, Pure Maths and Applied Maths (who knows I could have been an architect?). My arts and crafts activities were very much in the background until I had the fantastic opportunity to undertake an Access course in Art and Design at Bracknell and Wokingham College in 2003/4. The year (very kindly paid for by the government) was incredibly enjoyable and challenging; it really opened my eyes to all styles of art, especially to working in 3 dimensions using both clay and metal. Here are a few examples of my work produced during this brilliant year.

"Broken Shell Form" (ceramic)

"Nigella Seedhead" (copper with threads on oak base)

"A Twist on Rene Macintosh" (ceramic)

Unfortunately my creative activities came to an abrupt halt at the end of the year as I focused my energies on becoming a Horticultural Therapist with Thrive, which entailed yet more studying, this time successfully completing a year long Diploma in Social and Therapeutic Horticulture.

By 2008 I realised that my life was missing a creative outlet; having loved woking with clay so much on the Access course I signed up for a Ceramics evening class which again is run by Bracknell and Wokingham College and led by the Ceramicist Sue Mundy. This has proved to be the catalyst for lots of new work and a tremendous amount of enjoyment which I look forward to sharing with you in future blogs.

Welcome

Welcome to my new online gallery,

Many who know me will not be surprised that I have chosen the name 'Koru Craft' for my work. I have long been fascinated by spirals and I love ferns, especially the unfurling new shoots which the New Zealand Maori call the Koru. The Koru symbolises new life, growth, strength and peace. The circular shape of the Koru helps to convey the idea of perpetual movement while the inner coil suggests a return to the point of origin.

The Koru features in a lot of my work, from photography

to prints

to ceramics