Cheddar-based artist Susie Spanring makes stoneware vessels with character – good to hold, lovely to behold and perfect for holding food. Each unique item is intended to become part of the intimacy of daily life.

 

The forms are mostly thrown at the wheel, though some are altered after the throwing process or have hand-built additions. The surface decoration is entirely done by hand and frequently involves pattern, usually contained within the confines of blue and white. This is carried out at the leather-hard stage before the initial firing. Sgraffito – the incising of lines into coloured slip – is often the chosen method of decoration and this technique has led to further exploration of surface decoration in another discipline – that of printmaking.

 

The purchase of an old mangle, now lovingly converted into a printing press, has enabled a related yet separate body of work to emerge, resulting in prints both on paper and on fabric, using various printing techniques.