Susan (Sue) Fields
Art Forms
Ceramics
Exhibition and News
My work can be purchased through the following galleries at present;
Artologie, Cuckfield, West Sussex.
Greenfinch, Ticehurst, East Sussex.
Gallery 35, Cranbrook, Kent.
I am a founding member of Tenterden Artists and show with them annually in Tenterden in October, updates nearer the time!
Watch this space for upcoming shows and exhibitions on 2025!
Member of London Potters and Kent Potters.
Biography
Artist statement-Sue Fields
My pathway
I have been working in clay for over 40 years and it is not an exaggeration to assert that being a ceramicist defines who I am.
That sounds dramatic, but it’s true to say that clay has been my obsession from a young age, and that the making of objects has been my chosen path of sanity through both
peaceful and tumultuous times!
After completing my BA (hons) in 3D design Ceramics form Camberwell
School of Art, I set up my first small studio in Sussex, with the aid of a Crafts
Council Grant and a year long bursary which kept me afloat, whilst making
connections with galleries.
Alongside my own work, I began teaching, both in schools and adult education and this has continued to be an important part of what I do. The delight of seeing a child finding their strength in creating in clay, or the adult
student who feels passionate enough to set up their own home workshop reassures me that ceramic art has a viable and meaningful future!
My processes and practices
I enjoy making small editions of vessels that relate closely to one another.
Living by the sea but having my studio next to woodland, I find that my ideas ping-pong between both sources of inspiration and the
comings and goings of the seasons.
In the summer, like any beachcomber, I’m drawn to the flotsam and jetsam to be found on the shoreline. I like to reinterpret these on the
surfaces of my pots, as if the vessels are ancient things, dredged from the depths.
To do this I use a heavily textured clay for the pots, which I then enhance with smooth white porcelain inclusions and chunks of coarse grog. I like the contrast between rough and smooth.
In the autumn, I feel the abundance of nature around my wooded studio, so seed-heads, nuts, fruiting bodies and their beautiful forms,
inevitably permeate my work, both thrown and hand-built.
These piecesare earthy, and the colours of my clay and glazes reflect those of the
season.
In the winter months, my chilly studio heralds a cooler palette including porcelain and lighter blues and greens in my glazes!
Alongside my pots, I create figurative pieces, some of which are based upon recent life drawings and others that are inspired by myth and folklore. Again, these reflect the seasons, with figures of summery sea-swimmers cavorting in the waves and autumnal wood-dwellers from
whose ample bodies there spring trees and leaves.
As a variety of clays feature in my work, I have spent many hours testing my glazes on their differing surfaces to understand the relationship between the two and to make informed choices about what effects I am trying to achieve.
No two combinations are ever the same,
and the excitement (or disappointment) comes from exploring these interactions. It’s no surprise that the potters of ancient China describe ceramics as ‘the art with no pity’!
I make my own glazes and use as many locally-sourced and recycled materials as I can lay my hands on, such as local clay, and free wood
ash from the stoves of nearby pubs and friends’ wood-stoves!
I name my glazes after the sources of these foraging activities, such as ‘Bedgebury iron mustard’ and ‘Lord Raglan matt ash green’.
This brings an authenticity to what I am doing, as well as grounding it to the environment, both physically as well as conceptually.
Work is either oxidation-fired to a high temperature (Stoneware and Porcelain), or is sometimes Raku-fired in my outdoor, gas kiln to
encourage reduction, characteristic crazing and colour.
Contact
susanfields@gmail.com
@suefieldsceramics
