Sarah’s ceramics career started as a studio potter creating functional tableware, but since completing a diploma in ceramics she has started to experiment with other clays and firing methods including raku and saggar firing.
Sarah encourage people to use handmade items every day, this gives pleasure in appearance, and importantly how they feel when being used. Her thrown kitchenware is made to be touched, used and enjoyed. The designs have evolved, removing complexity to give an overall clean and simple form.
The glazes she uses have a subtle palette with a variation in depth of colour accentuating the throwing lines. The muted hues enhance the overall shape of the work and highlight the handles and openings against the main form. This domestic ware is oven and dishwasher safe.
Having been surrounded by basketry and ironwork throughout her life; these practical crafts have influenced her approach to domestic vessels. The fluidity and strength of leatherwork, particularly straps and handles as an added medium, are of particular personal interest. Sarah has exhibited her work in London, Bovey Tracey, Bevere, Cwmbran and Liverpool and in 2018 her work was displayed at the New Designers exhibition where it was selected as Highly Recommended by Denby.
Sarah’s latest adventure in clay is to ‘paint’ with different coloured slips using the thickness of slip to create a 3-dimensional texture. These pieces are fired multiple times adding engobes and glazes to enhance the image. The finished picture is then set into a clay frame. The scale and detail of frame is important to me, she finds the process of construction very challenging, but the results are rewarding.
Sarah has started to develop a body of sculptural pieces inspired by seed pods, she has been experimenting with firing these in a saggar using materials such as seaweed, banana skin, wire and oxides to achieve colour. The seed heads are created by manipulating a thrown sphere into which detail is carved and texture applied. The plastic properties of clay can be harnessed and explored to create these organic shapes. This whole process takes place over an extended period of time. As each pod evolves it takes on its own personality as more detail is added or removed.
Raku is an alternative firing technique which results in non-functional ceramics. This process produces an extraordinary array of colours and effects which are far less predictable than that of an electric kiln. This is a departure from my usual work and is a contrast to the uniformity of wheel thrown tableware. These pieces celebrate the freedom of movement that sculpting affords the creator along with the excitement of a gas flame and smoke to create colour.
Instagram: @sarahwygas