About Jane Samuel Ceramics

Working from her studio on Anglesey, Jane draws inspiration from the sea and surrounding shoreline to create beautiful stoneware forms, reflecting not only the natural elements of her surroundings but also the nature of life and our journey through it.

The broken and fragile shards of bone china and porcelain which fill her forms, remind us of the many fragile layers found within broken shells and echo the fragility of the human mind and body coupled with the unpredictability of life itself.

In our forever changing world it is Jane’s belief that we constantly seek to make connections, whether physical or emotional, to each other and to our surroundings. This has been emphasised all the more during the pandemic that swept the world at the beginning of 2020; a time where people have sought to become more connected throughout the disconnection and isolation of lockdown.

Each unique and sculptural form begins its journey with Jane taking stoneware clay, forming and refining it ready to be bisque fired. Once fired it is ready to hold the fragile shards of bone china and porcelain, each individual shard is carefully placed and surrounded with multiple layers of  glazes including a volatile lava glaze, a second firing brings these elements together in the continuation of its journey. During firing the glazes push and move the shards producing the unique finish that reflects the unpredictability of life. Jane then finishes their journey together by grinding away the surface of the lava glaze to reveal the hidden beauty beneath. These fragile shards are now being ‘held’ in strong silence by the stoneware form that surrounds it.

Through these forms Jane has created a catalyst of connections showing the journey travelled between the nature of her inspiration, the final outcome and the viewer. Through this the viewer learns a little of the maker, which in turn creates a link, one of human connection not only to nature but to each other thereby completing the journey.