“My intention, in both the process of creating the work and the work itself, is to combine bodily and earthly components with spiritual elements to feed the soul and raise awareness.”
Mary Kaun English’s artistic practice is based on the process of ceramic smoke firing.
Having obtained a BA (Hons) in Art and Design at Wimbledon Art College (ULA) and trained in ceramics at Putney Art College for five years, Mary has spent the last 20 years perfecting this sustainable process which she uses to articulate her interest in the ephemeral.
Mary’s organic forms are inspired by the Cornish landscape and are handcrafted using the Cornish landscape itself; the clay she uses is mined locally in St Agnes.
The Process.
The exceptional ceramic surface decoration is an interation with the smoke and the clay. The clay capturing the visual chemical essence of the smoke and fire, showing in smoke clouds, painted in the organic colours of rust, yellow, red and clay on a white clay; or in dramatic black smoke clouds against a vivid coloured slip surface.
Each unique piece has been fired in an open-air earthen pit at her garden studio located in Kehelland, Cornwall.
“The energy of the elements leaves the work with depth and a narrative.”
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