A life in clay
Nick's work is grounded in the English slipware tradition and shaped by decades of close observation, patient hands and an instinct for character.
“I'd rather make one good piece that takes days than a hundred quickly without identity.”
Sgraffito is a simple idea with nowhere to hide: white slip over red earth, then a line cut through the surface. You cannot unscratch it. The letters are planned; the flowers, figures and bees mostly are not.
Sgraffito means 'to scratch'. It dates back thousands of years across ancient civilisations, including early Bronze Age, classical Greek and Roman pottery, and has been used as a method of decoration throughout Europe.
During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, sgraffito pottery was produced in the south west of England.
Nick has been obsessed with this technique for much of his career and places an importance on keeping this traditional approach alive.
He is continually striving to make more elaborate decorations, mixing the flora with old-fashioned sayings and verses.
Every piece Nick creates bears his signature bee – a little hallmark that makes each piece unmistakably his.
