About Penny Little
The first time I held a piece of cold smooth porcelain clay in my hands I felt an affinity with this wonderful translucent material that I couldn't explain, and I still feel the same today. I love working with porcelain, it’s a beautiful clay and needs to be handled with a mixture of confidence and softness. Because I hand-build I never quite know what will appear which is incredibly exciting. The making process is long and fairly drawn out and at any time things can change - sometimes at the dry stage when I am finishing a piece prior to its first firing, part of it may give way and a new shape will emerge and I will think, 'Ah, there you are, that's who you are meant to be'.
Each piece is unique and I have watched people nestle a piece into their palm and instantly know it's the one for them. I am a passionate advocate for hand-made and the human touch and when someone picks up a piece I have made, just for a second my hand goes into theirs, and I love that about hand-made. Clay is wonderful stuff; unlike many other materials, all you need are your hands to create a bowl you can eat from, or a figure or sculpture that makes your heart sing.
Creativity has always been a strong theme in my life, I have always been interested in the world of design, retail and anything individual and hand-made. Creativity and inspiration are very important to me and it’s important never to stand still but to expand and grow my practice as my skills evolve. Imagination, two hands and a lump of clay are a joyful combination.
I use gold and platinum lustre, filling my work with light at the final stage. This comes after a long process of hand=forming, carving, finishing, firing, glazing, firing again and then adding the lustre in the third and final firing. Working with lustre is challenging; I never quite know, until I open the kiln, whether the lustre will have worked properly but this is part of the magic and alchemy. The contrast of the smooth luxurious lustre interior and the organic non-glazed exterior which leaves the porcelain to speak for itself, gives it a very tactile quality. Some of my pieces are tiny, like jewels, other are larger and more sculptural, reminiscent of waves and pebbles, fire and water, but all made of the earth, of course.
I was proud to be awarded The MAKER’S CHOICE AWARD by North Devon Ceramics Academy and Studio at A Festival of Ceramics 2018.
