Brighton Art Houses 2: Frances Doherty, ceramicist

Posted:5 May 2010

You know how sometimes you look intensely at a flower and just can’t believe the colours are ‘made by nature’?  Few artists so completely capture the depth and vibrancy of natural plant forms as successfully as Frances Doherty.

Frances is the second artist to be featured in our celebration of local creators whose work captures the beauty of plant- or garden-related subjects.  We love her observational style and ability to capture and exaggerate the sculptural forms of seed-heads, pods and fruiting bodies.

Working in stoneware, Frances uses richly iridescent glazes chosen to compliment the form, making the pieces glow with colour.  Her work is high fired so that the pieces can go into an interior or exterior environment.

“My inspiration comes from flowers and plants that we see all around us, in gardens, fields, even cracks in the pavement. I particularly love the secret worlds inside these flowers, in the patterns and textures hidden away that give a continuing sense of promise and renewal.”

The images shown here were taken at the Life Cycle Sculpture Trail at the Ventnor Botanic Gardens, Isle of Wight, during summer 2009.

As part of the Brighton Open Artists Houses festival Frances will be exhibiting at 31 Havelock Road,
Brighton, part of the Five Ways Artists Group. www.fivewaysartists.com

During the festival, Frances will also be showing some of her sculpture in the front gardens of Havelock Road, starting from Mrs Moles Flower Emporium and then going up Havelock Road at numbers, 13,14,18,29,31 and 64.

See more of Frances’s work at www.francesdoherty.co.uk

Check out all this years Artists Open Houses at www.aoh.org.uk