Louise McNiff

Louise McNiff is a Derbyshire based Printmaker and Ceramicist. She has a BA in Fine Art and worked as Technician and Teacher for many years, returning to her own practice in 2015.

The starting point for Louise’s work is to make numerous drawings whilst walking on the eastern moors of the Peak District. She is particularly drawn to the shapes of ancient rock formations found on the steep rocky edges; a distinctive feature of the landscape close to her home. 

Back in the studio, she begins building each vessel using slabs of clay. Coloured slips are then inlaid, monoprinted, painted and stencilled, adding layers of drawing, mark making and colour to the pieces. Louise works intuitively, until she is happy that a balance of line, shape and colour has been reached on each unique vessel. 

After bisc firing, Louise adds a clear glaze to carefully selected areas of the decoration, and inside the pieces, before taking them to stoneware temperature in the final firing.