Ceramics
My ceramic practice explores the storytelling potential of the decorated vessel, drawing on the visual traditions of English mottoware and European folk art. Through intricate illustration and playful inscriptions, I reinterpret familiar proverbs and superstitions, exploring how ornament can communicate moral instruction while concealing darker meanings beneath its decorative appeal.
Working predominantly in stoneware, I use the sgraffito technique to carve illustrations through layers of coloured slip and underglaze. This process of revealing an image through removal reflects my longstanding interest in archival recovery and the histories that survive through material objects. Each vessel becomes a surface for storytelling, where traditional craft meets contemporary interpretation.
All works are available for purchase unless otherwise stated.
HELLMOUTH - 2025
24cm x 18cm
Stoneware, Red Underglaze, Tenmoku Glaze
The carved imagery draws on The Flowing Light of the Godhead, the 13th Century mystical text by Mechthild of Magdeburg, evoking her visions of ecstatic revelation and divine love as a transformative force.
SELIMA - 2026
Stoneware, Underglaze, Matte Glaze
Made during The Clay Garden Artist in Residence program, responding to local histories in Twickenham. Selima was Horace Walpole’s adored cat, who drowned in a Chinese porcelain vase in 1747 while trying to catch goldfish. Walpole asked his friend Thomas Gray to commemorate her in his mock-elegy, Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat Drowned in a Tub of Goldfishes.
THIRTEEN BEWARE - 2025
26cm x 16cm
Stoneware, Blue Underglaze, Sgraffito Carving
Pot made by Anas Rifizinati. This vase draws on the Lancashire version of One for Sorrow and its tradition of magpie superstition. 13 magpies surround a playful devil alongside the warning, “Thirteen Beware, it’s the Devil himself,” echoing the uneasy humour of historic English mottoware pottery.
MAGPIE, MAGPIE Lamp - 2025
24cm x 14cm
Stoneware, Blue Slip, Sgraffito Carving
The phrase “Magpie, Magpie the Devil’s Own Spy” references 19th Century British folklore associating magpies with watchfulness and misfortune, while the lampshade draws on William Morris and the Arts and Crafts revival of ornament and botanical pattern.
THE FOOL’S JOURNEY - 2026 - SOLD
Stoneware and Porcelain, Underglaze, Crackle Glaze, Sgraffito Carving
This work was made during my Artist Residency at Earthworks Ceramic Studios and exhibited at Folklore, Myths and Legends at the Green & Stone Gallery in London. The small-scale series explores the Tarot’s journey of transformation and traces a path from surrender and confrontation with the unknown towards illumination and renewal through six cards of the Major Arcana.
WE ARE ALL REPTILES - 2026
Stoneware, Matte Glaze, Sgraffito Carving
This vase was made during The Clay Garden Artist in Residence program. Inspired by Strawberry Hill House and Twickenham’s role in the Gothic Revival, this vase explores the emerging “cult of atmosphere,” which privileged mood, emotion and the supernatural over Enlightenment rationality, paving the way for modern horror.
QUEEN OF HEARTS - 2026
15cm x 11cm
Stoneware, Red and Black Underglaze, Sgraffito Carving
This jug draws on the visual language of traditional playing cards and the Queen of Hearts. Its imagery references the evolution of playing cards from earlier Islamic and Asian traditions into the four suits used in French and English decks.
INSECTICIDE - 2026
16cm x 10cm
Stoneware, Underglaze, Sgraffito Carving
This vase references 19th Century practices of collecting and displaying animal specimens, collections often shaped by imperial trade and colonial expansion. Decorative cartouches and animal prints evoke the visual language of natural history displays, where collecting, classification and observation meet.
CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR - 2025
20cm x 11cm
Stoneware, Blue Slip, Sgraffito Carving
This lamp explores the darker side of romantic longing through the warning “Careful What You Wish For.” Drawing on folk ceramics and illustrated proverbs, it presents desire as both seductive and cautionary.
STREET VERMIN - 2025
17cm x 14cm, 15cm x 12cm
Stoneware, Black Slip, Sgraffito Carving
These vases play with the imagery of “vermin” through creatures that inhabit the edges of urban life. Drawing on folk illustration and traditional decorative pottery, they reposition overlooked urban animals as subjects of attention rather than pests.
PLAY YOUR CARDS RIGHT - 2026
19cm × 10.3cm × 10.3cm
Stoneware, Black and Red Underglaze, Sgraffito Carving
Inspired by vintage playing cards and the symbolism of fortune, this ceramic lidded jar features hand-carved suits and bold striped decoration. Encircled by the phrase “Play Your Cards Right and Fortune May Follow,” its intricate sgraffito illustrations explore the relationship between luck and chance, transforming a functional vessel into a playful celebration of fate.
BETTER THE DEVIL YOU KNOW - 2025
12cm x 12cm
Stoneware, Red and Black Underglaze, Tenmoku Glaze, Sgraffito Carving
This vase draws on the 19th Century English proverb “Better the Devil You Know” and the playful devil imagery of European carnival traditions. Its carved design echoes the graphic directness of folk illustration and historic decorative pottery.
DEVIL’S CANDLES - 2025
Various Sizes
Stoneware, Red and Black Underglaze & Glaze, Sgraffito Carving
This collection of candlestick holders and goblets draws on European traditions of ritual and folklore, where candlelight symbolises divine protection and supernatural encounters. Deep red and black glazes evoke fire and blood, while dripping surfaces and altar-like silhouettes recall religious artefacts and the darker symbolism of superstition.
SPEAK OF THE DEVIL AND HE SHALL APPEAR - 2025
17cm x 4cm (small), 21.5cm × 3.5cm (large)
Stoneware, Black Slip and Red Glaze, Sgraffito Carving
These plates reference the proverb “Speak of the Devil and He Shall Appear,” reflecting the superstitious belief that words can summon an unwanted presence. Dripping red glaze and raised studs evoke infernal imagery, while faint devil faces emerge from the carved interior as the light shifts, echoing the proverb’s suggestion of an unexpected apparition.
PROVERB COFFEE TUMBLERS - 2025
7.5 × 7.5 × 11 cm
Stoneware, Black and Red Underglaze, Sgraffito Carving
Inspired by traditional proverbs, superstitions and the playful moral lessons found in folklore, these hand-carved ceramic coffee tumblers celebrate the stories and sayings that have been passed from one generation to the next. Each design features an original illustration paired with a familiar phrase, transforming everyday kitchen storage into a small piece of modern folk art.
ROMANTIC FUNCTIONAL WARE - 2025
Various Dimensions
Stoneware & Crank, Dip Glazes
This collection of functional ceramics draws on romantic traditions and the quiet rituals of domestic life, where everyday objects become expressions of affection. Soft glazes and rounded forms evoke intimacy and warmth, while references to historical courtship traditions celebrate the small gestures through which romance finds its place in the home.