Jenny Morten

Jenny Morten's ceramics have always been about time. Inspired by exploring coastal geology and marine fossils growing up in North Yorkshire, followed by travels across three continents - from California's earthquake riven landscape, to Cornwall's high cliffs, stacks and coves, and back to the Jurassic coastline of North East England - her lifelong journey has been to seek out and investigate how she could demonstrate through art the power of natural forces she has witnessed, coupled with the desire to create beautiful, refined vessels.

Jenny makes individual pieces, mostly vessels and hollow forms, because she is interested in the contrast between the inner and outer surfaces and the interplay of light and shade on knife like edges between the two. Drawing, texture and colour provide rhythm and movement, challenging the viewer to move around the form following its changing appearance.

She works solely in a white porcelain body which she fires to both earthenware and stoneware temperatures. The white surface acts as a canvas for both the vibrant coloured burnished slipware and the minimal matt glazed pieces produced at each temperature. The larger pieces are coil built, painted with coloured slips, wax and oxides, burnished on the outer smooth areas, glazed inside and fired to cone 04. The smaller forms are wheel thrown and altered, painted with coloured slips, glazed and fired to cone 9.