Catherine Daniel

Catherine makes a range of hand-built richly patterned ceramics using a wonderful array of colourful glazes which are hand-painted onto each piece and then fired to an earthenware temperature.

Her work is primarily influenced by a love of textiles, the movement within their patterns and the desire to produce pieces that elicit a tactile and emotional response.  Inspiration comes from fabrics, especially old patchwork quilts, appliqué work, samplers and folk-art motifs.

All the work is purely decorative, rather than functional, and no two pieces will ever be exactly the same.

Quilt Bowls

Whilst she enjoys devising her own designs, she has also produced a series of pieces based on traditional original quilt-block patterns, each with its own poetically descriptive name,  such as: ‘Card Trick’, ‘Christmas Geese’, ‘Maple Leaf’, ‘Spiderweb Star’, ‘Whirling Pinwheel’, ‘Nosegay’, and many more.  Each piece not only reflects her focus on design and colour but also a fascination with intricate detail.

Her method of making involves rolling out a sheet of clay and laying it onto muslin so that it can be picked up easily.  The detailed quilt block design is then impressed over the surface, using a variety of tools.  Pattern is added by using her own ceramic stamps, (made specifically for this purpose, by carving out a design into the surface of a clay block and firing it).  The wet clay slab is then transferred into a curved mould, folds and creases are deliberately formed, and the edges torn, in order to bring to it the feel of a piece of worn fabric, and further clay embellishments are added in the form of buttons, button holes, bows and thread, etc. Once the clay is dry, the bowls and platters of assorted sizes are lifted out of their moulds, cleaned up and bisque fired.

The design is brought to life using wax-resist techniques and brush-on glazes, and fired again.  The colours are glorious and used in combinations that are often unexpected and always remarkably beautiful: a real patchwork palette of Red, Amber, Christmas Tree Green, Denim Blue, Vanilla Bean, Pistachio Spice, Stormy Blue and Desert Gold.

The final product is sometimes embellished with Catherine’s own hand-made ceramic buttons and beads, which are attached using embroidery thread, thus combining elements from real textiles with their clay counterpart, lending the piece a tactile, textural quality.

The finished pieces exude the delicate distressed feel of a much-loved, old thread-bare quilt, a family heirloom passed down through the generations, complete with frayed edges, loose buttons, and holes.  They are intricate and yet have a simple, homespun quality, evoking a sense of nostalgia and timeless beauty.   There is something inherently feminine about her work, referencing a history of making that is associated with women (American quilts) while the tradition of decoration and embellishment predominantly suggests the ‘female touch’.