Helena Brennan – Artist’s Statement
The ceramic legacy of Bernard Leach has been my pottery guide, I was tutored by his son, David Leach. I am an inheritor of the Irish tradition of high fired functionahandthrown pottery.
Blending ash glazes of peat and sycamore with oxides including copper and cobalt, I fire in a reducing atmosphere to 1265C in my gas fired catanery arch kiln of brick and ceramic fibre, which I built in my woodland paradise near Avoca in Co. Wicklow in 2009.
Life drawing, occasional teaching and woodwork, with master craftsman Chaim Factor, enrich and inform the parameters of my ceramic life. Allowing a beautiful blending of the materials of wood and clay.
Handthrowing beautiful, useful and ergonomic stoneware and porcelain is my aim and joy!
Helena Brennan
www.helenabrennan.com
studioporcelain@gmail.com