
Mark's career
with clay began in 1971 as a trainee thrower at Kingwood
Pottery in Hampshire, England, where he was taught by a
mix of art school graduates and old time plant pot makers.
At this time he also attended part of the ceramics course
at Farnham Art School, which was run by Paul Barron, and
Henry Hammond, a pupil of Bernard Leach, who gave him a
wider view of the world of clay.
His present
workshop was established
in 1982,and for ten years he made terracotta garden
pots and slip decorated earthenware.
He also built his large wood-fired kiln.
After a year spent working in New
Zealand in the early nineties, he returned to England,
and continued potting with more emphasis on glazed
slipware, and more recently soda glazed stoneware, which
now constitutes the major part of his production.
His work is a continuing
exploration of the potential of wood-fired ceramics, with
the aesthetic and technical challenges of the medium creating
a constant evolution of style and making practice.
Current work consists
of wheel thrown or slab built 'shrines' and 'vessels', large
jars, plant pots for interiors,and functional pots.
He has exhibited widely
in the UK, and in France, and
examples of his work can be found in private and
public collections including
the Fitzwilliam Museum Cambridge.