Biography

Emma Williams makes low fired decorative ceramic bowls in her Nottingham studio from black & terracotta clays using the press-moulding process. Her brooches are cut from hand rolled slabs of clay. After applying slips and biscuit firing the work at 1000ºC she dips and pours on a range of glazes, including vibrant matt turquoise, purple barium and textured ‘crawl’ glazes, so called because they pull or ‘crawl’ away from the clay surface as my electric kiln heats up to 1055ºC.

Drawing inspiration for her work from observations of the natural world absorbed throughout her life – from childhood memories of seaside holidays spent beachcombing and rockpooling, to things she sees around her in day to day such as lichen growing on a stone wall.

Emma graduated in 1999 with a BA (Hons) in Decorative Arts from Nottingham Trent University and in 2003 was awarded a business start up grant from the Prince’s Trust. She also teaches pottery classes to students of a wide range of ages and abilities.