Mary is based in Newport, South Wales where She makes ceramic figures in my home studio. She studied painting in College, and on early retirement from teaching, attended pottery classes where she discovered a love for using clay to make figures. Though largely self-taught, she has learned much from the classes and demonstrations organised by South Wales Potters, of which she has been a member for many years.
Mary’s subjects are animals and people. She tries to create not only a physical representation of the subject, but also to capture something of its personality. She uses her own experience of ordinary people in everyday situations as inspiration, whereas her encounters with animals are, of course, more limited. While she tries to convey the essential nature of an animal, there is inevitably, albeit unwittingly, a degree of reference to human personalities and their emotions.
Mary uses several different types of clay, depending on the project. These include paper clay, i.e. clay to which a small amount of paper or flax fibre is added. This makes the clay very strong and is useful for delicate pieces. Grogged stoneware is appropriate for more robust pieces and a smooth stoneware at other times.
All Mary’s pieces are individually made and she uses several hand building techniques to form them. These include rolled out slabs of clay, cut, shaped, fixed together and modelled to make the finished piece. On other occasions coils of clay are built up to produce the basic shape, which she then smooths, refines and models. She often uses several of these and other techniques to create detail.
When the clay is completely dry it is bisque fired, before underglazes and oxides are used to decorate before a second firing. Sometimes she uses other pigments to enhance and add detail.
www.ceramicfigures-marywatkins.com
01633896490 / 07706405735
77 High Cross Lane, Rogerstone, Newport NP10 9DJ