Claire creates decorative smoke-fired pots. She chooses to use porcelain due to its strong resistance to wild temperature changes during the smoke-firing process. Her pots are not functional nor suitable for holding water due to the porous quality of the unglazed burnished clay which is necessary for smoke-firing.
She is fascinated by shape and form and how the exteriors relate to the interiors, and how the surface quality affects the whole essence of the pot. The interiors are quiet as if in meditation which contrasts with the ‘activity’ of the exteriors.
Her pots are partly glazed and partly burnished. During the smoke-firing process, the burnished areas become carbonised with beautiful ethereal markings. The tonal contrasts can ignite the imagination, sometimes evoking landscapes, strong seas or planetary explosions. The crackled glaze and lustres are also often reminiscent of the land. Patterns of fields, forests and sunlight perhaps.
Claire considers her work to be an expression of her spirituality of the universe from which we come.
She is a selected member of the Craft Potters Association.