Kirkbampton, Cumbria, May 2026
The work comprises of three large hand built bowls decorated with different colour dots of terra sigillata slips and original ceramic in-glaze transfers. The decoration shows pairs of scarecrows illustrating accompanying text that explores folklore of the origins of scarecrows with their humanistic forms. The bowl rims are decorated with seven magpies in realistic poses together with common meadow flowers that bloom in May to coincide with the scarecrow festival held in the Cumbrian villages of Thurstonfield and Kirkbampton in May each year.
The bowls are decorated using the language of nostalgia with patterns and colours of early childhood memories from the 1960’s and 70’s which creates an original style through experimenting with materials and techniques to add colour, pattern and figurative elements to functional pottery. This language of nostalgia delivers a commentary on the enduring role of contemporary culture, its impact on social and environmental decline and the loss of the old ways, rituals, beliefs and customs.