Ali Tomlin has always drawn and designed. She loves the energy of random lines or marks, from a sketch, painting or found on stones or peeling paint. She enjoys how just a simple line can completely change the feeling of a piece.
Her work is a collection of thrown, uncluttered porcelain forms. She throws and turns the pieces to a fine finish which, when unglazed and sanded, gives the porcelain a paper-like, tactile quality on which she can apply her marks as spontaneously as possible.
She waits for the pieces to be dry, as she prefers to work with the chalky surface, before using stains, oxides and slips, splashing or sponging away areas and inlaying lines, aiming to create pleasingly imperfect and unpredictable marks. All her work is both to look at and to use, it can safely go in the dishwasher and oven.
Ali Tomlin has a BA Hons degree in Graphic Design from Kingston University and has studied ceramics at Putney School of Art.
