Rosella Schembri

I normally work in high-fired stoneware (1280°C), do oxidation firings, and occasionally, reduction, raku and wood firings. I have also experimented with pit firings.

I see myself as a potter (part-time for the present) and my main interest lies in making vessels for everyday use.  Textured pots and wall plaques are considered as the creative and playful part of my work.

In 2007, my family and I moved from Malta to Essex and I have since set up studio in our one car garage which houses my second-hand wheel; a brand new kiln; a very heavy second-hand pugmill; glazes and numerous kitchen tools which are successfully utilised to produce the various textures which appear on my pots.

Ceramic courses attended

website: www.roceramics.co.uk

Other links

www.anglianpotters.org.uk 

www.essexcraftguild.co.uk 

‘It’s the journey that counts.’

I find that clay gives me the space, variety and challenge to keep me on the never-ending path of discovery and experimentation.  When I first started dabbling in clay, I had no ambition to reach any level of fame and still don’t.  However I would like to see my pots featured at various levels of exhibition:

• in craft fairs;
• in magazine or newspaper articles;
• in collective exhibitions.

My pots reflect my fascination with simple decoration and individualism.  As a studio potter, all my pots are one-off simply because each one is designed, made and decorated individually with no effort to copy or make identical ones.  This keeps me searching for the perfect mug, dish, bowl and wall hanging. 

 The other aspect that I look forward to is the tactile and texture feel when the pot has been glazed and fired.  This enables me to investigate the usage of a number of natural tools (e.g tree bark, sea shells) which are impressed or embedded and allowed to have their own ‘say’ in the finished pot.

Clay gives me the freedom to stretch both the material and my imagination to the limit and this has led, many a time, to discovering avenues which would not have been encouraged in classroom settings.   I believe that it is important to learn the techniques required and this would help in avoiding many disappointments following the multiple firing processes.  However, I also believe that there is no ‘good or bad’ method of making a pot, only whether the finished pot is aesthetically pleasing and successful in carrying out the function it is meant for.

May I never reach the end of the journey and always be able to embrace ‘new ways of working’ with clay.

click on a picture to enlarge

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