Art and craft has been an importent part of my life ever since I remember, my grandma being a illustrator, my grandpa an art historian and my mum a textile artist.
I grew up in a pretty village called Gunnislake in Cornwall and spent most weekends exploring the countryside with my family as a child. I have always loved the countryside surrounding Devon and Cornwall and this has gone on to inspire my ceramics.
At 16 I went to Plymouth College of art to study a btec in design crafts, where I experienced many different crafts including ceramics, glass, jewellery and large metals, my two favourate subjects being large metals and ceramics. I then went on to Hereford College of Art and studied a degree in Contemporary Applied Arts where I specialised in ceramics.
I currently work part time at Plymouth College of Art as technical demonstrator in Large Metals which I love and the rest of the time I concentrate on my ceramics and looking after my 2 year old.
Having grown up with a creative family, did you ever try your hand at textiles or illustration or any other types of arts and crafts when you was young? If so what and which were your favourites?
From a very young age drawing was encouraged, and to this day I love drawing and I think it is an important skill to use to inform and develop my ceramics.
Mum provided both me and my sister with sewing cards when we were very young (she now has sewing cards for my almost 2 year old!) and as we got older she taught us how to sew with both a machine and by hand - but it is not something which particularly grabs me, I would much rather be getting messy with clay! Mum also ran an arts and crafts club at primary school which I attended, so I got to try many different things! My favorites were always the messy crafts - clay, papier mache, painting, etc.
You mentioned the countryside of Devon and Cornwall inspire your works today. How so and in what way?
Also I noticed that most of your works are in the shapes of hearts, stars, butterflies and flowers - why is this?
I think that's just me.. I think these shapes are fun, and the basic shapes work well as a starting point. Also they tend to be popular shapes which people like. The influence of the countryside tends to be more on the bowls I make, and the way I glaze with the unglazed porcelain against the glaze in the texture.
What influences the colours you choose to glaze your works in?
I use mother of pearl lustre which is influenced by the sea froth and the hints of sparkle seen in the rocks and the cliffs. I use this to create contrast against the unglazed porcelain. I use brighter colours on the buttons and decorations pressed with flowers, these are the colours I see in my garden!
Do you still work with heavy metals? And have you thought about combining it with ceramics?
Although my work at home is purely ceramics at work I am a technical demonstrator in large metals at Plymouth College of Art, so I still spend half the week working in metal! I have some designs sat in my sketchbook waiting for September when I am back at work which incorporate both metals and my porcelain bowls which are exciting!
I love working in clay, and I find metal works in a similar way - when forging hot metal it takes on a plastic state and so moves much the same as clay - I remember one of my first blacksmithing lessons we were given a block of clay and a hammer before being let loose at the metal!
Could you talk us through your creative process?
I both design on paper and experiment with the porcelain to see what happens. I sketch the countryside that I love and then I design from there, choosing the elements that I find interesting to develop on. Sometimes I have an idea and i just go with it and make it, designing as I go, once I have a finished item i evaluate it and develop it on for the next time.
Do you prefer working with 2D or 3D crafts?
Most of your bowls have at least a hint of mother of pearl on them. Is this your preferred glaze? Also why do focus on the shapes/textures of the country side rather than the the colours from the hills, blue sea or the cliffs etc?
The mother of pearl glaze is my favorite, I love how when you add just a tiny amount to a bowl the glistening catches your eye from across the room and draws you in to the bowl. I also love how subtle it can be and the contrast between the mother of pearl is really effective - I think that is why I focus on the shapes and textures and not the colours. I did make a range of bowls featuring the blues and greens from the sea which were popular but I prefer working with the porcelain body and hints of mother of pearl.
Have you ever worked with another other types of clay? Also what is your preferred clay and why do you favour that type of clay over the others?
The type of clay I work with is porcelain. It different from other clays because of its translucent qualities (the reason I love it) and strength even when thin. I experimented with loads of different clays during my degree, including earthenware, stoneware and terracotta clays. I choose to stick to porcelain because I love the translucent qualities and it isn't worth the risk of contamination, it is such a clean white clay and I am very messy! If I had loads of time I would love to experiment with bone china because it is meant to be even stronger and more translucent than porcelain!
What's your favourite item in your own shop and why?
Its really hard to choose my favorite items - I would have to go for two.
I would have to go for my mother of pearl nesting bowls because they really feature my inspiration. Plus I think they are cute all nesting within each other!
www.etsy.com/listing/75906188/three-nesting-mother-of-pearl-porcelain
Also my hanging heart pressed with Leaf. I love this because I chose the leaf from my garden and the contrast between the leaf and porcelain is really strong.
www.etsy.com/listing/94656987/ceramic-heart-hanging-decoration-pressed
Check out my etsy shop:
www.etsy.com/shop/melissaceramics
And come and chat with me on facebook!
www.facebook.com/melissaceramics
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