“ I know some people object to NHS funds being used for art but it really can have a very powerful effect on an atmosphere , and that ’ s what I strive for .”
INTERVIEW
been since I was a little girl ,” she says . “ I used to love going to Bognor and other south coast resorts ”. Not surprisingly , a lot of Sue ’ s creative work is influenced by the shapes , colours and textures of the beach – and many people have remarked that her fine porcelain pieces have a distinct shell-like quality .
“ I know some people object to NHS funds being used for art but it really can have a very powerful effect on an atmosphere , and that ’ s what I strive for .”
She jokily admits that by the late 1990s she was looking for what she calls her “ Get out of London card ” – and that turned up for her in the year 2000 when she was awarded a three-year residency at the Quay Arts Centre in Newport , on a Lottery-funded grant of £ 5,000 a year . “ I was absolutely delighted ,” she says . “ It meant I could be close to the beach , I had a free studio and kiln time , and I managed to buy what was probably the last house on the Island at a price of £ 50,000 - a little terraced house in Ryde that needed loads of work . “ But for a Londoner who had spent two cold winters living in the workshop , it was a fantastic opportunity to buy my own little place in a lovely environment ”.
Cooking on gas
The studio space at Quay Arts also came with a gas-fired kiln ( rather than the usual electric ), which enabled Sue to develop her particular way of working with fine porcelain – and it ’ s a method she continues to use in her own workshop to this day . “ My life would be a whole lot easier with an electric kiln !” she says , “ but gas is the classic way of firing , and is used by the Chinese and Japanese who are masters of porcelain ”. Since arriving on the Island and establishing her home and business here , Sue has continued to exhibit her work widely all over the UK , from Portsmouth to Fort William , Norfolk to Middlesborough , as well as London and Paris . Somehow she manages to maintain that delicate balance between creative and commercial art – and she does it by producing high-end ranges of tableware , as well as her more decorative exhibition pieces . Her tableware – beautifully understated porcelain bowls , plates and mugs in simple clean shapes and colours – are sold to outlets such as Calvin Klein Home in Madison Avenue , New York , London ’ s Design Museum Shop , Liz Earle on the Kings Road , and the online stores of Herriott Grace ( based in Canada ) and Toast Home . She was also commissioned by TV chef Tom Kerridge – who described Sue ’ s plates as “ the best he ’ d ever seen ” - to make tableware for his Hand and Flowers
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