Heather Armstrong

I make hand built, smoke fired, sculptural ceramic vessels and boxes. My work is naked of glaze and therefore decorative rather than functional.

I am new to creative industry having a past life as a medical doctor and mother. My enduring influence is the natural world – it’s the big stuff; the mountains, the sea, the rocks, the rivers and glaciers. It’s the energy in the wind and the water. It’s the colour and flow of the seasons. My ceramic work reflects all of this.

With a professionally ingrained need for precision and control, I hand build with clay using pinch, coil and slab techniques. I craft work slowly and intuitively often diverging from an initial idea, while always being attentive to line, form and texture. I finally relinquish control when I progress to the smoke firing process. Surface marks are made by the action of
smoke and flame on a low-fired ceramic surface, with colour being the largely unpredictable product of burning different organic materials.

Looking forward, I will not stand still; always open to the possibilities of my chosen medium and method.

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