Claire Ireland

I encourage a relaxed and positive atmosphere by focusing on students' individual needs, and finding a balance within a group so they all benefit from the experience.

The confidence to know that they can develop ideas, use their new skills and incorporate them into their own work. I always aim to show that often as we are learning new techniques it might not come out quite right, but to revel in making mistakes, be enthusiastic, experimental, such results can be the most successful and innovative.

I work in a very practical, direct “hands on” way. Lots of examples and demonstrations of techniques and methods of making, I find this is the most effective way of illustrating such a diverse medium.

I have always looked to painters and sculptors for inspiration throughout my career. Matisse, Klee, Kandinsky. Ben Nicholson. Torres Garcia, Calder, and Brancusi, to name a few. David Nash’s show at the Tate St Ives was particularly inspirational. I draw and collect images in my sketchbooks constantly, using museum collections and culturally diverse imagery. I have been a regular visitor to the Pitt Rivers Collection in Oxford and the British Museum. Drawing is a crucial part of the design process for me so I can refine and adapt the pieces I make.

Private Collections

Camberwell School of Art BA Hons. Degree in Ceramics

25 years in Adult Education: BTEC. HNC. HND. Art Foundation, and Degree Subjects : Experimental Printmaking, Model Making Techniques, Mixed Media, Visual Studies along side Ceramics.

My work is featured in Ceramics and Mixed Media by Jo Bosworth (A&C Black Publications) and her new book Ceramics and Jewellery due out in the New Year.

I am a professional member of the CPA Craft Potters Association and SODC Society of Designers Craftsmen