by Marshall Colman

Colour and surface decoration are central to my ceramics. My designs explore variation and contrast, the rhythm of decorated and undecorated areas, and the relationship between pattern and form. My influences include abstract expressionism, 1950s textiles and maiolica.

I construct each piece carefully then paint it quickly with gestural marks. This is a high risk method because it can't be corrected. If it's wrong, the only thing to do is to wash off the glaze and start again.

The range of colours available to the modern ceramist is wide, but commercial stains are too stable and predictable. I prefer raw oxides, which blur and run and separate slightly after they have been mixed. 

The traditional vocabulary of this medium is naturalistic, but I use abstract motifs, which are more difficult than the traditional fruit and flowers whose shape is given and which can be easily arranged. The profile of the line is as important as the form of the motif and I'm always on the lookout for the right brush. Sometimes only the finest sable will do, sometimes I use a big old glue brush with the bristles falling out.  

I aim to make ceramics that are totally contemporary but which referecne the history of tin-glazed pottery.