Ali Tomlin

With a background in graphics, I have always drawn and designed and love the energy of random lines or marks, from a sketch, painting or found on stones or peeling paint. I still draw and paint, alongside making pots, and I enjoy how a simple line or mark can completely alter a piece and how the same shapes repeated, but with very different decoration, can form a cohesive family. My work is a collection of thrown, uncluttered porcelain forms. I throw and turn the pieces to a fine finish where I then apply my marks. I work with the chalky surface, applying stains, oxides and slips, splashing and sponging away areas, adding inlaid and sgraffito lines, aiming to create imperfect and unpredictable marks. Most decorating is carried out on the wheel to convey a feeling of movement and spontaneity. I use a bold, but muted, palette on the white clay, giving the hard porcelain the appearance of softness and my work is often described as calm. I leave most of the surfaces unglazed, which lends a paper-like, tactile quality to the pieces. I work from my studio in my garden just outside Farnham, Surrey.