Lola Swain

2023

I am an exhibiting potter working from my purpose built studio at my home in Leigh-on-Sea, Essex. 

 

I play an active role in several artistic groups in the area.  Having enjoyed a long association with the Leigh Art Trail and as a Selected Member of Anglian Potters Association I regularly exhibit in their collective and selected exhibitions. My work is also exhibited in various galleries and is part of the private collection at Chelmsford Museum.

 

My pots are hand built from earthenware clay using traditional coil methods.  The coil layers are built up from a slab base, a versatile method allowing a natural form to slowly evolve, in keeping with the intimacy of the process.  These are decorated with layers of coloured slip and burnished.

My earlier influence comes from the ancient art of the American Southwest pottery involving geometric patterns.  The natural colour of the clay is incorporated in the design and is necessary to the completeness of the earthy forms.  The concentric markings left by the burnishing create a subtle, textural appearance, recalling the essential qualities of hand built ceramics.

Line is becoming more evident in my work and is created by making incisions into the clay surface and once fired, stain is then applied and scraped away to reveal bold and contrasting lines.

A great interest in the natural world gives me a huge amount of inspiration for my work. I find this combines harmoniously with my rhythmic, floral designs and also the organic stylistic elements of art nouveau, which I am greatly influenced.

Adventures overseas are also influencing my forms and designs. This has occurred not only through my experiences of indigenous floras and faunas and also the symbolic patterns of Maori culture.

More recently I have been inspired by the wildlife and natural rhythms of the East Anglian coast; collecting found objects from our local shores and experimenting with textures they make in the soft clay.