BrisStyle: The Pink Plate

Hello Michelle

Were you creative as a child?

I was always creative as a child. I sewed, tried copper enamelling, pottery, macramé (it was the 70’s), tie dye and anything someone would show me I had a go.

Do you come from a creative family?

My family was not very creative, but they allowed me to be creative. However, unfortunately when I went to high school and told my parents I wanted to be an art teacher I was discouraged as my Mum was a teacher and she thought it was not a good choice.

Not being allowed to do art as a subject at school, I became creative in other ways.

I became a hairdresser and after finishing my apprenticeship I became a part time hairdresser and studied and worked as a fine arts jeweller. After having children I returned to hairdressing, and in my 40s I started ceramics.

How would you describe your work?

Let's not get too deep but my work is made though a very conceptual approach to the clay - I want it to tell a story in the end.

My work at first glance is quite conflicting and varying as I have a series of works that are fine and delicate and then I have a series that is robust and earthy. They both have underlying themes of nostalgia, and embrace imperfection.

Here is a bit of the story:

The porcelain series highlights femininity, and both strength and fragility of the women and men before me, and grasps at capturing the ideals of appearances and things from the past - grandma's tea set, embroidered doilies, pearls, dressing up and afternoon tea.

The series is based around my upbringing surrounded by spinster aunts, and childless uncles and the uncovering of stories of childlessness in marriages, secret adoptions, wartime brides left at the altar, war time poverty, family scandal, and all the while the public appearance was sternly upheld and the pillars of society were celebrated by their peers.

The family genetic pool is finished with my grandparents generation as all 13 of my grandparents’ brothers and sisters remained childless, and my mother was adopted. These porcelain works are embedded with all things that were considered of value and now remain only as memories.

My stoneware range is conceived around the idea of the illusion of perfection. I had an idea to make a dinner set where no pieces matched and were all slightly imperfect. I make all my wares with a rustic haphazardness and disregard to be perfect, and often highlight the imperfections with gold.

I aspire to the idea that we begin to treasure, value and celebrate imperfection.

The media celebrates perfection and I aspire to celebrate imperfection.

How has your work evolved since you started?

I think my arts practice has evolved to be a more subtle and restrained message to appeal to more people. I want my pieces to be more usable for day to day.

How did you start selling online?

I knew people liked my work and I thought there was a market to embed other people's treasured memories in clay, however I think I haven’t quite mastered how to promote this side of my work yet.

Who inspires you?

I am inspired by a great potter Gwen Hanssen Piggott and the great artist Rosalie Gascoigne.

Two great women artists who started art late in their life, just like me, and succeeded in their craft.

Do you reduce, reuse, recycle as part of your creative process?

Absolutely. We recycle all waste clay if it is damaged or broken before firing. I re-wet the clay and turn it into casting slip. If it is fired, then I use the pieces where I can in mosaics or art pieces.

I re-use objects which I press into my clay to leave impressions like cotton doilies, embroidered table mats, jewellery, keys. Sometimes metal objects are fired into my clay to create an interesting old rusted feel to them.

I have solar powered electricity to run my home and kiln during the day.

Can you describe your studio space for us?

I have a fabulous new studio which is approximately 30 square metres of designated 'make mess' space.

What is your favourite thing to make?

My porcelain illuminators are my favourite thing, I roll it thin and impress it with my memory objects (like doilies, or keys, or whatever) and push the clay to the absolute thinness where it becomes so fragile it is a challenge to get it to the kiln.

And yet when it fires, the porcelain is so strong, so beautiful and if the light illuminates through it, there is a residual impression of what I have pushed into the clay.

And yet in some ways it is still so fragile - it says so much about what I want to say.

How did your business name come about?

Pink is the most beautiful colour in the world, it speaks of femininity to me.

Where do you see your creative journey taking you in the next 12 months?

I have learnt so much through being involved with this positive creative community of BrisStyle.

The artist community don’t always want you to succeed as it is very competitive, so I hope to gain more exposure and have more interest in my work through this network of great people, as well as have some work in a retail outlet.

Do you have a top tip to others wanting to break into the creative market?

Be passionate and true to yourself, and be prepared to spend a lot of time on social media and your administrative tasks. 50% practice 50% administration.

What is a typical creative day for you?

My days are about to change as all my children are finished high school now. So I guess it will be wake up late, read, do a bit of sunbaking…. jokes.

I wake up and lie in bed for an hour doing my social media and emails, at least one day a week I will spend doing research or any other admin tasks, other days I might do half a day but I try to head into the studio about 9am, break for lunch, back to studio until about 5-6 then do dinner and TV then bed 10.30-11pm.