Pauline Monkcom Llantarnam Grange Dish (PM19)

Pauline Monkcom lives near Ammanford in mid Wales and has been a professional potter for twenty years. She exhibits widely and has work in several national collections, including the international collection of the Welsh Assembly.

Docklands Series utilises printmaking as well as traditional ceramic techniques. The rich iridescent colours are achieved by low fire lustre reduction glazes. These contain small quantities of precious metals such as gold, silver and copper which migrate to the surface during the firing process. Historically, because of the materials used, and because there is an element of alchemy about the process, lustre is associated with preciousness and otherworldliness. “It pleases me to use a technique with such arcane associations to celebrate such seemingly mundane details as sluice gates and sawmills.”