I read that “the reason many people feel & think that they are not creative is that they have not found a medium that excites their imagination, a medium in which they think best.” This is something that has stuck with me, as looking back clay was that medium for myself.

I was born and grew up in Derry and throughout my school days Art and Design was the only subject that held my interest, after secondary school I achieved a Foundation Diploma in Art & Design which was my stepping stone to progress on and study a BA Hons Degree in Fine & Applied Arts at the University of Ulster, Belfast.

I graduated in 1998 and returned to Derry and got a place at Craftworks Pottery School where I spent a year being taught the skills to work as a production potter. The skills I gained at Craftworks helped me secure work experience at Terrybaun Pottery in Mayo, Ireland’s oldest Pottery and then later that same year a full-time job working at Colm de Ris Pottery in Dublin.

I was working three years as a production potter, when in 2002 the Design & Crafts Council of Ireland’s Ceramic Skills and Design course piloted and funded a residency programme. The residency would run alongside their skills training course in Thomastown, Co. Kilkenny and was designed for individuals who were employed and working as a production throwers in Irelands Pottery industry. I applied and was successful and looking back, the wealth of knowledge & skills imparted by the then course director Gus Mableson was invaluable in helping me expand on my production skills, glaze technology and kiln theory & building, and can safely say that year for me was a quintessence time of living and feeling of being in your element.

In 2003 I returned home to Derry and I worked part-time teaching pottery and ceramics within the education sector and wider community with both children and adults, whilst continuing to develop my own ceramic practice.

In 2010 teaching came more to the forefront in my ceramic practice and I returned to education to study and achieve a Post Graduate Certificate in Education to work as an Associate Lecturer in Art and Design within North West Regional College in Derry, and to date my working week is very much a happy balance of teaching and working in further education sector and community helping others pursue their own creative ambitions, whilst continuing to working on my own ceramic practice, where I continue to enjoy the exploration of a medium that still excites my imagination.