Molly Abbott Ceramics

Molly Abbott 

I have been using clay to express my ideas since first going to Art school at the age of sixteen. From those early days I went on to study ceramics in Stoke-on-Trent, then the heart of the ceramics industry. After graduating I completed my PGCE in Art teaching. After teaching Pottery and Art for 13 years I wanted to travel. I completed a TEFL course, and went on to teach English in other countries, both near and far, before returning to England at the end of 1996.

I have managed to keep up my clay practice in most of the places I have lived, and now have my own studio. Cheltenham has been my home since 1998. There is a large artistic community, and it is a joy to be involved in local galleries and organisations.

The reference for my work has always been the natural world, and that continues, though occasionally I use architecture as a starting point. Shape and form are very much the starting point for the actual making of my work. I enjoy looking at ways of devising changes from the traditional view of a geometric shape or traditional pottery form - like a vase, for instance. The surfaces of the completed piece are a focus for me. Any treatment - colour, texture and glaze - must befit the their placing and not just appear to be a ‘decoration’.

I have always used white clays, as light and shade on the surface reveal the form itself. It also provides a perfect ground for texture and colour which are applied as the piece is drying before the first firing. Then finally a transparent glaze is used, which enhances all the colours and their interactions.