Carrie, born and raised in Teeside, completed her degree in ceramics at The University of Westminster, Harrow, in 2001. Post degree life went in a different career direction but after several years she built up a workshop in her Peak District garden. Then a combination of a move back to Lincolnshire with a cottage studio in 2021, and two children both in full time education, made it possible to slide from hobby potter to professional ceramic artist. She now lives in rural Fulstow, Louth, and travels the uk from Scotland to the south of England exhibiting at various ceramic shows and galleries, plus teaching a few hand building and raku workshops around her show schedule.
Carrie finds the greatest connection with clay through hand building, from shaping flat sheets of clay into elegant functional ware drawing inspiration from the Chinese Yixing teapot makers, to coiling and pinching clay into sculptures, vessels, wall pieces, or jewellery.
Her sculptural vessels are generally coil built, either from grogged porcelain white stoneware, or raku clay with carved and impressed textures using light and shade to create surface interest alongside the mesmerising colours achieved from Raku.
The roots of raku date back to 16th century Japans’ tea ceremony with ware made by the raku family, influenced by shogun society and wabi aesthetic of rusticity and simplicity. The modern western practice has evolved to post fired reduction ware and takes several forms. Carrie transfers glazed ceramics from an outdoor gas kiln whilst still glowing red hot with tongs, then places them in combustible materials such as sawdust and paper. This starves the piece of oxygen and creates an atmosphere rich in carbon, resulting in oxygen being taken from the clay and glazes, creating beautiful effects such as crackled whites and turquoises, and metallic rainbow hues against the carbon infused blacks.
Her latest sculptural vessels and wall pieces have explored spiral textures inspired by themes of sacred geometry and the golden ratio. The spiral is one of Earth’s most ancient of symbols, representing the infinite motion of the universe and the continuous changing and evolving journey of life.