Why dogs? I have always loved dogs; I was brought up alongside an Irish Setter cross Labrador called Tolly. We had him when I was two and he died when I was eighteen, with two big sisters to contend with, he was a good surrogate big brother. I see a lot of him in the dogs that I make, but mostly they are based on my Mum's dog 'Polly', she's a Springer Spaniel cross Labrador. She is big pawed, big eared, very springy, and ever so slightly neurotic.
I try to attend Crufts every year, armed with my camera, sketchbook and like-minded sister, though we have still not managed to smuggle out a couple of Irish Wolfhounds beneath our jumpers! Crufts is a great place for studying the relationships between dogs and their owners, and the way dogs interact with each other.
I have recently undertaken a few commissions for other breeds, including Spaniels, Rottweillers and Border Collies. I have enjoyed the challenges a new breed offers, and their owners have been pleased with the results.

My dogs begin their lives as extruded hollow tubes of hand building clay, which I then manipulate into the forms I require. The texture of the clay often influences the finished piece, for example, if the clay is damp it will result in a laying, relaxing dog, and if it is quite dry it can support a sitting or standing dog. Because of this, I have learnt to be sympathetic to the clays qualities.

Once the dogs are dried and fired to 1160c, I smoke-fire them. The dogs are placed in a small brick pit, along with plenty of combustibles and set alight to. The smoke from the fire stains the body of the clay, resulting in a very natural finish. 'Spotty' dogs are the reult of masking areas with foil and raw clay. Each dog that I make is a complete individual, as they are hand-made. Poses may be similar but due to the nature of their finishing, each dog has its very own unique character.