I trained as a dancer from an early age and was fortunate enough to dance with Ballet Rambert for eleven years from 1961 until 1972, the photos below are from that period which covered both classical ballet and contemporary dance. My love of making pottery developed after I left Ballet Rambert and moved to Dawlish in Devon to bring up my young family. Later my dance career was resurrected and I retired as a dancer aged 81 in 2023 (after a period spanning 62 years) having spent my final 29 years as professional dancer in La Traviata with The Royal Opera Company.
When I moved to Devon in 1972 I became a dance lecturer at Dartington College which brought me into direct contact with many arts and crafts, including pottery. Whilst in Devon I enjoyed a few classes with a local potter and in 1978 when he retired I bought all his equipment: kiln, wheel, tools, glazes, clay etc.
I set up a small studio in my garage in Dawlish and initially taught myself to make pots, but following a chance meeting with Sid Tustin who had been a potter throughout his whole career at Winchcombe Pottery I was mentored by Sid for several years. Sid himself was a product of of Michael Cardew and Ray Finch.with whom he had served a four year apprenticeship from the age of 13, he stayed with Winchcombe Pottery until he retired aged 65. He is reputed to have thrown more than 1 million pots!
Eventually I moved to London along with my pottery equipment, which I installed in a small industrial unit in Greenwich. Over the next seven years Millbrook Pottery (a trade name chosen whilst still in Dawlish) went from strength to strength, culminating in the need to employ seven potters to cope with the demand as well as renting a much larger studio space. During that period Millbrook Pottery was sold all over the world to approximately 350 retail outlets.
Now in my 80’s I have a small studio in my garden in Beckenham where I continue to enjoy making pottery on a small scale which I sell at exhibitions, ceramics events and craft fairs..
My pottery is on sale at some National Trust shops in Kent and has sold at Bonham’s contemporary ceramics auctions.
I am a member of Kent Potters Association, London Potters Association, and an Associate member of the Craft Potters Association.