Sarah McCormack
Green Stripey 'Stroppy Clock' 23 cm x 22 cm
(sold)
I came to ceramics more by accident than design accepting a place at
Sunderland College of Art & Design to study Glass & Ceramics (BA Hons.). Although I had initially been interested in illustration and textiles it was plain to see the possibilities for texture, colour and approach were limitless.
I completed the course in 1988 and have been working with clay in both two and three dimensions ever since.
From 1998 - 2006 I made multi piece ceramic interlocking panels and one piece impressed panels – Their surfaces were
built up using various techniques combining multiple glazed layers with incising and impressing .This experimentation
has led to a good understanding of slab work and a wide range of glazes.
I lived in East Anglia at this time and had a successful stall in All Saints Garden Art Fair, Cambridge.
Moving to Plymouth, Devon in 2006 I returned to three dimensional works again, enjoying the process of making functional objects. I began to produce jugs, bowls and dishes hand built from slabs and coils.
Occasionally I would want to use a glaze which wouldn’t be suitable for tableware and hit upon clocks as a good functional object that did not hold the same concerns of toxicity and left me free to combine colours and surfaces textures as I pleased.
Time consuming ceramic techniques combined with lack of available work time led to the development of an ongoing series I nicknamed ' stroppy clocks ' which combine architectural form with human characteristics. These pieces are formed using slabs ,the shapes and positioning of the ‘arms’ suggest certain personality or attitude which in turn suggests to me how I will colour and glaze each piece. I enjoy experimenting with different clays and decorate each piece with oxides, engobes, glazes and lustres usually firing each piece three or more times finishing with a final gold or platinum luster firing.
Plymouth has quite a wealth of Victorian turrets around the city and I have views from my house of hundreds of rooftops. I became fascinated by the rooftop lifestyle of birds here and they now feature frequently in my work as well as a general theme of ‘home’ - recently culminating in a series of actual houses, dwellings and dovecots. These are made from stoneware, earthenware and most recently raku working with fellow ceramicist Christina Peters at Flameworks in Plymouth.
I have also undertaken several Public Art projects - working with adults and children transferring their drawings onto clay directly to create textured tiled murals for playground wall’s, train stations and a Cawsand busstop.
Sarah works from a studio at Flameworks Creative Arts Facility in Devonport, Plymouth
Current Galleries & outlets:
45 Southside Street , Barbican Plymouth
Brownston gallery – Modbury , South hams
Gallery at Seale Hayne – Nr Newton Abbott
Taurus Gallery - Oxford
Sunderland College of Art & Design to study Glass & Ceramics (BA Hons.). Although I had initially been interested in illustration and textiles it was plain to see the possibilities for texture, colour and approach were limitless.
I completed the course in 1988 and have been working with clay in both two and three dimensions ever since.
From 1998 - 2006 I made multi piece ceramic interlocking panels and one piece impressed panels – Their surfaces were
built up using various techniques combining multiple glazed layers with incising and impressing .This experimentation
has led to a good understanding of slab work and a wide range of glazes.
I lived in East Anglia at this time and had a successful stall in All Saints Garden Art Fair, Cambridge.
Moving to Plymouth, Devon in 2006 I returned to three dimensional works again, enjoying the process of making functional objects. I began to produce jugs, bowls and dishes hand built from slabs and coils.
Occasionally I would want to use a glaze which wouldn’t be suitable for tableware and hit upon clocks as a good functional object that did not hold the same concerns of toxicity and left me free to combine colours and surfaces textures as I pleased.
Time consuming ceramic techniques combined with lack of available work time led to the development of an ongoing series I nicknamed ' stroppy clocks ' which combine architectural form with human characteristics. These pieces are formed using slabs ,the shapes and positioning of the ‘arms’ suggest certain personality or attitude which in turn suggests to me how I will colour and glaze each piece. I enjoy experimenting with different clays and decorate each piece with oxides, engobes, glazes and lustres usually firing each piece three or more times finishing with a final gold or platinum luster firing.
Plymouth has quite a wealth of Victorian turrets around the city and I have views from my house of hundreds of rooftops. I became fascinated by the rooftop lifestyle of birds here and they now feature frequently in my work as well as a general theme of ‘home’ - recently culminating in a series of actual houses, dwellings and dovecots. These are made from stoneware, earthenware and most recently raku working with fellow ceramicist Christina Peters at Flameworks in Plymouth.
I have also undertaken several Public Art projects - working with adults and children transferring their drawings onto clay directly to create textured tiled murals for playground wall’s, train stations and a Cawsand busstop.
Sarah works from a studio at Flameworks Creative Arts Facility in Devonport, Plymouth
Current Galleries & outlets:
45 Southside Street , Barbican Plymouth
Brownston gallery – Modbury , South hams
Gallery at Seale Hayne – Nr Newton Abbott
Taurus Gallery - Oxford