Local Ceramicist Sally Bradley first studied ceramics at Redruth and Cambourne Art College in Cornwall during the 1970s. Since then she has remained committed to ceramics and continued to develop her work while also teaching ceramic evening classes and running workshops on throwing and sawdust firing. Her work is wonderfully inspirational not just to fellow ceramicists but to anyone interested in contemporary craft.

Although her ceramic background is rooted in the Leach tradition of thrown, functional tableware, Sally has moved some distance from this; discarding obvious function in favour of exploring shape and texture, as applied to the traditional form of bowl and bottle.

Sally's current work consists of individual ceramic pieces. Inspiration comes from traditional ceramic and bronze forms combined with her fascination with eroded natural and manmade objects; pitted and worn metals; terracotta bricks that have been sculpted by the sea; the remains of plastic buoys that have been worn smooth and ground into dishes by sand and wind.

Working at the extreme edge of lo-tech, Sally uses a combination of hand building methods, including coiling and throwing in stoneware and porcelain clays. The finished pots are shaped and their surfaces eroded by scraping and burnishing over many hours. They are then biscuit fired and often rubbed down again with carborundum paper before sawdust or raku firing.

Each piece is committed to an apparently simple firing process that is subject to many variables; wind speed and direction, rain, air pressure, temperature and different types of sawdust all play a role in determining the success or failure of a firing. As a consequence of this unpredictable process, the pieces that arrive in galleries are rare and each one is unique.

A superb showcase to start the year with, her collection is truly inspirational for all.