Margaret Brown

Pottery

"My passion is in making colorful hand-painted pots. I'm inspired by the fruit and floral decorations on Moorcroft and Italian majolica pottery. I aim always to paint free-flowing designs, and to achieve a mix of brilliant fired colors.

Each of my pots is unique. I experiment with all kinds of pottery shapes and techniques, but with experimentation comes lots of risk. It's this never-ending challenge to master the techniques that keeps me interested in making pottery.

The colorful decorations on my pots make them attractive for both entertaining and everyday use, and the high-firing stoneware clay makes them durable and dishwasher safe.

I paint the pots while the clay is still damp. The first kiln firing seals the colors onto the clay and the second firing permanently fuses the colors within a transparent glaze.

Lately I've been hand-building pots with impressed designs, and every summer I do raku and smoked barrel firings in the garden to produce contemporary art pieces."