Tracy Ford

Tracy's collection of work is a selection of coiled bowls. Coiling is a very basic and primitive technique used for thousands of years by human beings to create vessels. She has found the whole process invigorating and therapeutic, reminiscent of childhood and primary school.

The form the bowls take allow the coils to be visible on the outside with the hand marks evident on the inside. She deliberately resists the use of tools so that the human touch emanates through her work; slip is applied by hand, not brush, to give a tactile finish. Decoration is allowed to occur naturally with wax resists and textures freely and spontaneously used.

Tracy likes to work instinctively and quickly, to encourage life into her pieces. She have a "one take" approach and tries not to over exert the clay. For her, the piece must not lose its spontaneity and look laboured as the clay remembers this and the work loses life.

She draw inspiration from her immediate surroundings and situations. She loves the magic of ceramics and the alchemy of it all.

Previous series of work concentrate on immortalising and preserving fragile vintage textiles, protecting them from time, tarnish and decay.