clay takes me everywhere

and I am a happy follower

AND I AM A HAPPY FOLLOWER

Hey! I’m Jessica, a South African ceramist now potting in Southampton, England. For me, clay feels so alive and it offers up a deeply material and process-based ground for my work. There are loads of reasons why I choose clay as my primary creative medium, but over the last few years I've learnt that I'm just a much better, kinder, happier person when I have clay in my life <3

just add fire

The fire feels like just as much a creator in this process as I am. I hand over some of my power to the flames and they leave their marks. I become a supplicant and must offer the right organic materials, wood supply and airflow, otherwise the fire can and will wreak havoc on my pots!

I had the privilege of studying ceramics at the Ceramics Studio at UKZN, Pietermaritzburg, under the guidance of Prof Ian Calder, Prof Juliet Armstrong, Michelle Rall and Susie Dwyer. My colleagues and I received traditional ceramics and glaze chemistry training that also incorporated local South African ceramics knowledge.

This is where I fell in love with clay and smoke firing.

I cannot emphasise enough how this teaching studio changed the course of my life when I made my first pot there as a first year student in 2010. It was around our barrels, pits and raku kilns that generosity, community, passion and joy became central to me and my creative practice.

lunar swirls & starlit skies

The results of the firing emerge

Notes from the Fire

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For extra snippets & behind-the-scenes, find me here: @jessica_merle_ceramics