Rebecca J Woods
Rebecca was raised in a creative family, where using your hands to make things and being creative and curious were valued. On the whole, these values were instilled by her mum, an artists herself, both of them enjoying the process of working with fabrics and yarns. The importance of having a good eye and paying attention to detail were both stimulating and fun.
Her pottery seeks to continue this joy of making, with decorative, almost fabric-like qualities. She developed these motifs from historical pots from Europe, Japan, Korea as well as early British Studio Pottery. The quiet practice of working on pieces through her creative processes inherently talk of herself, the maker. She creates vessels and is currently working on sculptural forms. As her growth as a potter continues to develop, she aims to combine both qualities in her work.
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She shares her work at fairs, galleries, exhibitions and retail locations within the UK
Rebecca works from her own studio in Moffat, Scotland.
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A Professional Member of Upland CIC and the Scottish Potters Association.
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Current Work
Rebecca predominantly makes her work using the potter's wheel, yet she loves handbuilding as well. Lately, she has been developing new glazes from base ingredients, using for example wood ash and oxides. Surface decoration is created by imprinting using found objects; a button from her mum's old button tin, or the single earring! She makes both functional and decorative pottery.
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Rebecca has been refining her Mishima decoration, a technique originating from 16th-century Korea. This involves inlaying coloured slip into imprints and carved lines, employing her black clay mixture to make Moon Jars, trinket dishes, decorative platters, and miniature lidded boxes.
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Her proposed project is centred on autobiographical childhood memories:
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"During Covid, I noticed that I was having these snapshots of memories from my childhood. I collected these memories in my notebook and created poems or phrases encapsulating these recollections. I am in the process of embedding them as text onto my pottery."
Rebecca high fires her work to 1260 degrees c, in an electric kiln.
Education
1985-1988
University of Derby
1988-2017
BA (Hons) Photographic Studies at University of Derby, specialising in stills photography, print making (alternative processes, Cyanotypes).
Attended various studios, ceramic courses and workshops. Worked under the tutelage of international master potter Mike Dodd.