Everything is interesting

All of my diverse practice - cob oven building, graphic design and contemporary crafts - is underpinned by my passion for making a difference, my desire to connect with the world, and to do these things as sustainably as possible.

I first got my hands on cob at an oven workshop whilst researching for my self-build art studio, and it changed my life. The antithesis of my daily digital desk work - digging, mixing and building  - clay had reconnected me with earth, body, and soul.

I built my art studio using straw bales. The cob workshop had set my imagination alight. In 2008 my children's primary school hosted my first School Cob Oven Project, the central feature of a new outdoor classroom instigated by the PTA. We won a National PTA Award for 'Changing the Life of the School', and this propelled me onward to repeat the experience and create The Fabulous Cob Oven Company.

Sharing the passion

Since then I have worked with over 15,000 school children at schools throughout the UK, from Glasgow to Torquay, Machynlleth to Gateshead. I have also delivered hundreds of my Cob Oven Workshops with folks keen to learn how to build their own oven.

Digging Deeper

Today clay continues to fascinate me. During the enforced hiatus brought about by the Covid pandemic, I studied for a Master of Arts degree in Contemporary Crafts at Hereford College of Arts. I took time to unearth the roots of my connection with clay, leading to a broader and deeper relationship with matter, form and what it is to a human in our world. I also researched ancient, low-fired, ceramic processes using foraged clays and wood-fired cob ovens. I now share this in schools in my project called We Are Here. Learn more by visiting wearehere.art