I work with pre-formed copper bowls and copper sheet.  I then fire each piece with wet process or ground enamels several times, to create dazzling effects. I have an electric kiln which is heated to temperatures around 900 to 920 degrees Celsius.  Each piece will be fired to build up layers of colour.  On a copper bowl, the layers of enamel will slide over several firings and the colours may fuse to reveal further colour combinations, opalescence or golden colours.

Sometimes, particularly when working on a bowl, one surface may be pickled in nitric acid to remove the fire-scale that develops on firing a piece, returning it to its original copper colour.  Pickling may also be done in certain areas to allow the copper oxides, which are made during the firing process, to play a part in the desired design.

Each piece has a unique visual and tactile quality, which I exploit and enhance.  Some are experimental, incorporating both traditional and contemporary enamel techniques. All pieces are one-offs, some involving sifting many thin layers of enamel onto the shapes. The high firing produces is an excitingly fluid, ambiguous explosion of colour and texture!