Claire Botterill

I have always loved pens from when I was a small child. I had a Man from UNCLE pen which used invisible ink, which was really exciting to me. I have always experimented with various ink pens, and different inks, incorporating them into my drawings.

I was in the first year of my ceramics degree and as was the fashion in the seventies, watercolour painting was not taught on our art foundation course. A fellow student had a bijoux box of Windsor and Newton watercolours. I experimented with the paint and fell head over heels in love with the translucency and pure colour, so I started using watercolours for designing my ceramics and glass.

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I discovered how to create the appearance of a shimmer of light on a distant ocean by drawing with a candle on watercolour paper, the wax marks breaking through tints of watercolour. I was even more impressed by the texture and the interaction of the colours, as it directly related to my ceramics work. I have used Crayola crayons, applying all the beautiful rich colours, and have discovered how they enhance textures in architectural drawings and give rise to many more applications.

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