Julie Ayton
I find the tension between form and decoration compelling. I am drawn to the many ceramic traditions where decoration is central, but always with an undertow pulling me back to consideration of form and volume.
While abstract pattern has always been part of my work, recently a sense of urgency about the declining state of nature has emerged more often in recurring themes of birds and flowers as though fixing them in ceramic could somehow preserve them for an uncertain future.
Using raw glazes, I draw directly into the porcelain or stoneware clay, followed, when possible, by a single firing.