Carole Bonney - Small Fish Pottery
After finishing an art degree, Carole had a long career in marketing as a creative director but rarely had the time during the working week to indulge her real passion, the countryside, its wildlife, landscapes and depicting that through drawing and painting.
Many years a change came about which finally allowed her to step off the treadmill and at the same time clay found her. Carole hand builds each of her sculptural vessels which, although a slower, more unpredictable process than throwing, allows time for thought and to develop form, surface and depth.
She employs coiling slabbing and pinching as well as some of her own less conventional techniques, applied slips, finger swipes and impressing natural objects such as stones, shells and fir cones to create the form and surface. She finishes with multiple firings - layering stains and underglazes or a mix of her own and commercial glazes.
Each piece is unique and many take inspiration from the East Anglian landscape, tracks and fences, sea and rocks and the changing seasons in which she walks, collects, sketches, and absorbs what is around her.
Still a conceptual thinker, Carole has more ideas for new pieces than she has the time or experience to make. Her delight is in experimenting and developing new ways to interpret what she sees. For each completed piece there are a lot of failures, learnings, and a good deal of heart and soul.
