Rebecca Simmons

Rebecca Simmons has an MA in Fine Art from Chelsea college of Art and Design and is currently Head of Art at Wynstones School. She is a ceramicist and painter exploring the affinities between clay and paint.

email: rebsimmons@yahoo.com

instagram: @rebsimmons12

Website: rebsimmons.com

How long have you been a resident at VWS?

I was here from the very beginning when the studios hadn’t even been partitioned. Shortly after moving to Stroud, about 10 years ago, I spotted the sign ‘Studios Available’ while driving past VWS and the rest is history.

When did you decide that you wanted to be an artist or maker?

I was really into art from the age of 16 and after going to art college at Newcastle, I went on to complete an MA in Fine Art at Chelsea College of Art and Design sixteen years ago. Up until the end of my final year, my focus had been on fine art, but I suddenly became drawn to ceramics. At the time, I was pregnant with my son and had been doing small gouache paintings that were themed on people on a quest for something - quite ironic really. By chance, I discovered the College ceramics studio, and this inspired me to change tack. I made some curious, rather Freudian pieces that were not like anything I had done before. My tutor recommended against submitting them for my final piece, possibly because they were too overt, and he felt I hadn’t really processed them properly. Consequently, I didn’t show them, but I now see that you should seize the moment when something surfaces like this.

I went on to have two children and, around the same time, I happened to be left a little bit of money. This enabled me to buy a kiln and work from home. During this time, I attended a weekly pottery class to skill up to teach children. The teacher, who also happens to have taught Anna Simson (the founder of VWS), was very skilled and extremely generous with his time. This then led to me offering a pottery class for children at my home in London for a number of years.

What’s your work routine if you have one? What does a day in the life of studio 4 look like?

I don’t really have a typical day. However, I generally work on something domestic alongside doing the more experimental sculpture work. For example, I might make some beakers for part of the first day and then tidy their bottoms the next day, followed by slip decoration on the final day of the week. I’ve had to reconsider how I work and not be tempted to try to make twenty bowls as uniform as possible in a day. I need to mix things up to generate enthusiastic energy.

Briefly describe your creative process.

With domestic work, I throw on the wheel and, as I turn the work, I use either use slip decoration or majolica, which are white tin glaze and oxides or translucent coloured glazes over one another. I try to use the mark making very freely; sometimes when the work is still unfired, I scratch into the surface of the clay to get a sculptural effect on the surface. The other sculptural work I do starts from doodles or from free mark-making that I turn into 3D forms with slabs and coils and then decorate with oxides or slips.

What is your favourite material or tool to work and why?

I like working with terracotta clay. The one I use is crank and has a gritty texture which is enjoyable to use in sculpture.

What’s your inspiration/ main theme currently? 

I am currently working on both decorative domestic pieces and sculptures, and I am exploring the interaction of these with a variety of different glazes.

What’s your favourite painting/piece of your own and why? 

I think that would have to be these two pieces (see photo) which I feel are maybe a king and a queen, although neither is completely male or female.

What do you find beneficial about being part of a community of artists?

Although I often spend the whole day by myself, it’s still important to be part of an energetic hub rather than in a studio at the bottom of the garden. There’s a real sense of purpose and industry. I also love taking part in the Open Studios events with the other makers.

I’ve really benefitted from being part of a small critters’ group with other residents, where we discuss our work once a month. This environment feeds me and it’s also nice to have a chat with the other makers, who often have a different perspective. We also sometimes share our frustration when things aren’t going as we would like.

How has the pandemic changed your artwork and working processes?

For most of the period prior to the pandemic, I was juggling ceramics alongside teaching art at a nearby Steiner school. I only spent one day per week at the studio, which I shared with others. I didn’t really feel as though I made much progress during this time. However, the balance of my creative time totally switched shortly before the pandemic when the school closed, and this was quickly followed by a period when I was furloughed. I now only teach two days a week and have three days in the studio. The extra time I had available was, in many respects, a gift that I was able to take advantage of. As a result, I came to realise that it was the decorating aspect of ceramics that particularly excited me. Since I wasn’t traditionally taught glazing techniques, I felt a strong need to invest time in exploring the use of liquid slips and analysing different glazing effects resulting from varying factors. I had to understand the chemistry in order to get the decorative effects I wanted. For example, some glazes don’t work well on top of others, but I didn’t really know which. So, I undertook a really involved process of testing different glazes and meticulously recording the results. Curiously, I started working quite freely and my mark-making developed into its own style as an indirect consequence of this, but I really didn’t like some of the items I made. However, when I drew them in my sketchbook, I discovered that the thing I didn’t like about them became the aspect that interested me most. It was like a treasure trove of information. From the parts I didn’t feel comfortable with, I went on to use them as inspiration to make and decorate other pieces. Then from these, I made fully 3D sculptures decorated in slip.

What is the most useful advice you have ever been given?

During lockdown, I did Sandy Brown’s online course ‘Creativity is Play’. This taught me to put the more rational side of my mind to one side and let my hands do the work. I subsequently realised that I was more of a painter and that trying to produce a series of identical perfect forms, something I had previously struggled with, didn’t satisfy or feed me. Sandy’s advice is to say ‘yes’ to all your work rather than reject it. For me that advice was transformative – that’s when the magic started!

And finally, if you had to spend the day in different room or studio at VWS, which one would it be and why?

I would like to spend time in either of the two corner studios; the one has a staircase leading to it which is tucked away, the other one has amazing light. In terms of other makers, I am fascinated by Lucien’s studio with all his materials and technology; it’s like an inventor’s workshop.