GALLERY

JULIA DAVEY

Bath based ceramist Julia Davey is a perfectionist and goes to great lengths to produce her beautiful and unique ceramic-ware. In her own words she describes her influences, practices and challenges…

“My work is consistently inspired by the environment around me and most of my illustrations are created on location with portable drawing materials. With family based in Cornwall I would have to say that Sennen Cove near to Lands End on a sunny day with a picnic lunch would be my ultimate creative place or in my Bath studio with the radio on and a big pot of fresh casting slip to experiment with.

I have been inspired by animals and artefacts that I encounter on a daily basis, be it a pug dog in the park or a beautiful book of heritage tulips in the library. I think that it is fun to record these consistently as one would in a diary and through my work I can document moments and observations. My favourite pieces are the framed butterflies. With such an arduous process by which they are made you become attached to every one, knowing its individual tension points and the moment you pinned it into position securing it forever in a set layout. The making process dominates the decoration for me.

The butterflies involve a lengthy process. Each requires a paper template, enlarged by 10% to allow for shrinkage and match the exact size of the real specimen. The template is covered in slip and fired. In the first firing I have a success ratio of around 1:15, this decreases slightly to 1:3 when I glaze them. They are subsequently applied with transfers and lustre to finish before being pinned in the frame. Again this can cause breakage as you push the pin through the hole and settle the wings against the supportive foam. This all adds to how special it is that they have made it to position and protected forever from harm.

The glaze naturally bubbles or crazes which is often left forever on the surface as it cools. I am learning as a maker that this is a good quality, signifying the makers hand and role in the process rather than the uniformity of a machine made item.”