MICHELLE FOOTE
I grew up within a creative family in St Ives and really enjoyed sketching and painting as 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.
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After moving back to my home town in 2010 I started exploring different art forms including printmaking, surface pattern design and painting. My eyes were opened after starting wheel throwing lessons in 2015 - I realised I could incorporate my favoured design techniques into a 3D format. I was hooked!
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Since then I have established a home pottery and exhibited at local fairs and exhibitions. My work is available at a number of galleries as well as my online shop. I also take part in Open Studios Cornwall each year and I love meeting and chatting with my customers who choose to spend their hard earned cash on my pots. Recently, I have started offering taster throwing workshops from my home studio which are bookable here.
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Many of the pots I make have a direct connection with my surroundings both coastal and rural. I spend a lot of time exploring the area whilst walking my dog, Monty with my husband in all weathers and am always on the look out for treasure (mark making natural tools) and inspiration (stripy pebbles, rock pools, a far reaching vista) and hope the decorative pottery I produce evokes some sense of the place through form, colour, texture and pattern.
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Follow me on Instagram or Facebook to keep up to date with my current work, Cornish outings, treasure finds and lovely Monty Dog pictures.
"After throwing and turning my work in the pottery on my beloved traditional Leach kick wheel, I (carefully!) carry the pots up the garden steps to my studio to decorate or carve.
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Once completely dried, the pots are taken back down to the pottery for their two firings in an electric kiln using renewable energy.
I use white stoneware clay sourced from a clifftop quarry at St Agnes, a few miles away on the north Cornish coast."
Surface decoration
I often use items I find out and about on walks to make marks or patterns in my pots. Here I'm using the end of a cockle shell to make a petal design. When the pot is fired, the glaze will pool nicely in these impressed areas.
Exploring new ideas
Matching glazes to designs is always an interesting exercise. This crystalline glaze has worked well with the incised leaf design to produce a softened pastel green effect.
Endless possibilities
Working with clay is a never-ending voyage of discovery and I thoroughly recommend trying it to anyone! There are still so many things to learn and I love exploring new ideas but particularly enjoy throwing pots often challenging myself to try different forms.
