mary johnson ceramics
All of the pottery is made using red earthenware clay and traditional craft
methods. Most of the work is thrown on the potters wheel and decorate using
coloured slips and glaze. Sometimes materials are added to vary the texture. It
may then be torn or broken and reassembled to make contemporary vessels created
or recycled from pieces. The images, colours and textures are based on drawings
made in the garden or allotment. Using a love of traditional slip decorated and
county pottery to comment on our contemporary relationship with the environment.
Red clay represents a need to connect with the earth and our long history of
care,use and misuse. These pots create an honest picture of this relationship,
both good and bad. Standing up for earwigs and brussels sprouts, rusting
wheelbarrows and decay, as integral parts of the landscape. Without them life
would be infinitely dull and sterile.
