Bella’s love affair with clay began in the USA where her family had emigrated in the late 70’s. Bella spent a childhood appreciating beautiful objects and good design and with a degree in History of Art, she returned to the UK and worked for many years as a signwriter in London. She continued her necessary obsession with ceramics by interlacing her life with evening courses and workshops. On moving her young family to Devon in 2005, she did the Applied Arts Foundation degree at Plymouth College of Art, concentrating solely on Ceramics. Since then, Bella has been making lyrical shaped pots that allude to function whilst clearly having none; vessels that whisper the influences from travels around the world. She uses stoneware and porcelain clays together with slips to create both simple and intricate surface decoration. Pots are either thrown on the wheel or hand-built and are often smoke fired to achieve natural random markings. Most importantly Bella feels that working with clay is a vital therapy that she cannot live without.
