I set up the VISCAR POTTERY in the early 1990s having arrived in Cornwall from London in 1986 after twenty years in theatre and television management. We bought our dilapidated smallholding which my husband (Robert) and I have been rebuilding ever since. I started to keep cattle, goats, pigs and poultry almost immediately, which fulfilled one of my dreams. I planted about 500 trees at the lower end of one field to make a small woodland for wildlife.

The building, which is now my pottery, was once a communal threshing house. In 1990, as soon as the building had a floor and a roof, I bought my first wheel and an ancient but completely unused (and therefore brand new) kiln. I started to teach myself to make pots remembering what I’d learned at some evening classes in the early 1980s while still in London and I was given generous encouragement by local potters. In 1992 I sold my first pots from a stall in Helston’s Coinagehall Street, and then started to take stalls at craft fairs and in 1994 I found my first gallery outlet. I now have 15 outlets in the Southwest and one in Anglesey.

After fifteen years of running the two interests in tandem, the Government paperwork imposed on farmers as a result of BSE and eventually Foot and Mouth made life very difficult. I decided that I needed to concentrate on the pottery. So in the Autumn of 2001 we said a sad farewell to the last of our cattle and started converting our farm to a woodland for wildlife. We planted 5,000 trees, created a wildlife pond and put up bat boxes and nesting boxes for birds. We kept a few farmyard “pensioners”, 3 goats and 18 geese and one duck.

Two years ago I changed from a red terracotta clay to a smooth white earthenware. I form pots by throwing on the wheel or occasionally I hand build with rolled slabs of clay.

When the pot has dried to a handleable consistency, it is trimmed and handles and spouts are added, and lids fitted. I then apply the decoration: I use a slip trailer, sponges and brushes. The colours I use are mostly slip based with added pigments.

The pot is allowed to dry a little and then I dip it into the bin of glaze. The whole process is done without any firing by this stage. The forming of the pot, decoration and glazing is all done before the pot goes into the kiln for the first and only time. This process is called “raw glazing” because the clay is unfired at the glazing stage.

My decorations include cockerels, boats and fishes, summer skies, trees,poppies, pansies & sweet-peas, birds, pears and other fruits, holly for Christmas, thistles and sea-pinks, hearts and other shapes. I make special items to order such as: plaques, commemorative plates and dishes, tea and dinner services. The pottery is for use. It may be put in the oven or dish-washer, although the glaze may lose its bloom after a while.