Person & Process

Welcome to my website. Just a brief description about myself:

I was born in Auckland, New Zealand and moved up to Whangarei around 2001. There I studied visual arts and obtained a bachelor degree specialising in ceramics, since then, I've evolved the art to my particular style.

My studio is my happy place. There I strive to improve my techniques, test my boundaries, to overcome technical issues with the clay creation and the firing process.

My pieces tend to resonate with human behaviours in which the art almost creates itself, becoming unusual creatures telling their unique story. My purpose is to instil humour that creates a silent conversation between the viewer and the art.

Some people may not be aware of the lengthy process for clay work, there are a lot of things to consider.

It all starts with an idea, not just anything, it has to 'click' and feel right. That is when the right motivation and enjoyment kicks in.

Choosing a particular type of clay that will work with that piece is very important. I often work with high structural content in my clay (called grog). These are tiny bits of crushed up fired clay added to the wet clay. This allows me to work with difficult objects and larger structures. A client really liked the small whale tale that you see me holding, but he wanted me to make it as big as possible! Luckily, my larger kiln allowed me to make it 1.2mtrs high by 70cm across the width of the tale. Once finished, the piece weighed 32kgs! The piece was a success. and one very happy client who has now mounted it pride of place in their garden.

When the piece has been sculpted, it needs to dry at a steady rate or will risk cracking in high stress areas. This can be a problem if there is a deadline or if it has been raining or cold.

Once dry, it is at its most fragile state. Dry mud can easily break, so when loading into the kiln, utmost care will be taken.

From then, I personally prefer a slow 'candle' firing of around 80C for 2 - 24 hours, this will allow the rest of the moisture to release out of the clay. Don't forget, water boils at 100 C, so you want all of that gone or you will risk the piece exploding.

Glazing is up next, and to be honest, not my most favourite thing to be doing. Some are pre mixed glazes and some are made from scratch from a recipe of chemical powders with water added. If you don't get the glazing right, you can really ruin a piece that you've spent 40 - 50 hours on. And yes I have done that.

The highest temperature I have fired at is 1293 C. That was for a specialized crystalline firing in which you reach this temperature, open the kiln (as seen on the right) and crash cool it down to 1093 C. This process involves melting most of the glaze off, leaving tiny crystal 'seeds' which then in turn grow beautiful crystals in various colours and shapes. Some of my test tiles are below as an example.

But I can say, most of the time, when that kiln door opens after a glaze firing, I am pleased and often surprised at the same time!

The final touch, is to add my 'potters mark' (see my picture front and back 'KK' ). Most ceramic artists will have their unique mark as it is a good way to identify their art work.

If you ever come across one and are unsure, send me a message and I will try to find out for you. I am also available if anyone has any questions about anything clay related as have a good network of other clay artists to ask.