Michelle Foote
I grew up within a creative family in St Ives and really enjoyed sketching and painting when I was a teenager. I moved to Devon when I was 17 to pursue non-creative career paths but thankfully rediscovered the joy of making art when my children were small.
We moved back to my home town in 2010 and I started to learn about different art forms. Taking some throwing lessons in 2015 opened the fascinating world of ceramics and I was hooked!
Working with clay allows me to create works incorporating my favoured techniques in painting and printmaking into a 3D format.
I combine my love of pattern and texture with the influence of the West Cornwall environment and often use items found on local walks (with my dear cocker spaniel) such as shells, acorns and driftwood as tools in my work.
"I throw my work on a traditional
Leach kick wheel using white
stoneware clay from the clifftop quarry at St Agnes - a few miles up the north Cornish coast from my studio."
Turning the base of a pot and producing satisfying clay ribbons!
"After throwing and turning my work in the pottery it is (carefully) transported up the garden steps to my studio to decorate or carve.
Once completely dried, the pots are taken back down to the pottery for their two firings in an electric kiln using renewable energy."
