Mary Marmery

I trained at Middlesex Uni with ceramics as a subsidiary subject. Since retiring from teaching I have been working with clay in my studios in my garden first whilst living in London and now in Bosham since moving here.
I make handbuilt wares which are fired outside using variations on the ancient Japanese Raku firing process. The pots are high-fired quickly to 750 - 1000 degs.C in an outdoor furnace and whilst still hot are removed from the furnace and placed into a small metal container with combustible materials which ignite on contact with the hot wares. A lid is placed over the work creating an almost airtight environment which begins the process of reduction creating surfaces ranging from iridescent and metallic colours if glazes are applied or black and white surfaces created directly onto the white body of the clay, a process commonly called ‘painting with smoke’. Due to their outdoor firing of Raku, smoking or pit-fired the results are unpredictable making each piece unique.
My inspiration is drawn from various sources of Ancient Greek Pottery of the Cycladic era which give rise to the pot-bellied forms as well as small sculptural figures.