Workshop & Technique

William moved into a seventeenth century farmhouse in nearby Witherslack in 1994 and established a new studio where he creates all his pottery today.

William throws with a mixture of two clays a Dorset Ball Clay and a Cornish Fire Clay which is supplied by John Doble of Newdown Sand and Clay pits for his bigger pieces he uses a clay mixed with Molochite, he throws on two wheels a traditional Japanese kick wheel and an electric wheel.

After a bisque firing all Williams pots are glazed with wood ash glazes with exception of the Tenmoku the wood ashes vary from a mixed variety to single species and all have to be tested before being made into a batch.

He also uses a Scottish granite which is high in Silica and a local quarry for Kirkstone slate dust. In 2000 William returned from a trip to Japan with a small variety of enamels which he acquired in Mashiko and this adds a new dimension to his work and involves a third firing for these selected pieces.