Karen Needham BA (Hons) Art & Design -Ceramacist.
Karen is Cornish-born, with a passion for her home of Cornwall and ceramics.
My work is a combination of hand thrown or hand built vessels made with smooth or textured Vulcan Black Clay or white stoneware clays, with additional layers of unpredictable lava glazes which I make myself, also containing oxides or stains which give colour alongside other surface decoration and traditional glazes. The lava glazes tend to interact with each other unpredictably during the firing process, and the oxides touch or mix giving some amazing results, which I have very little control over.
Many hours of testing the lava glazes have enabled me to convey the textures and tactility of sand, eroding cliffs, the sea, moorlands, the countryside. The glazing has allowed me to share the narrative of the Cornish coast, which has been added in layers to give the idea of movement & contrast to the surface of the clay. Some of the work has been fired 3++ times to enable the glaze to build up and give a more organic, raw, rugged appearance.
Nature is the inspiration behind my work, the colours, our coastline, and the breath-taking beauty of the far South West of England.
