Helen Davies

Helen is a local ceramic artist who lives and works near Machynlleth, Helen studied Applied arts at North Wales School of Art, and graduated in 2019 with a BA (First Class Hons) in ceramics.

In 2020 she was selected to take part in Future edit by the crafts council. An exhibition in London showing selected works from 2020 graduates. Helen's work can be seen locally and her work has been exhibited at the Mostyn Art gallery and Ruthin art centre.

Her work centers around animals in particular dogs and British wildlife. Helen hand builds her dogs with no particular breed in mind they just evolve from the clay. The one exception to this is her dachshunds, the family pets.

Her dogs facial expressions capture the narrative of the dog whether loved or unwanted. Helen sometimes adds geese as travelling companions to her dogs as a symbol of finding a home.

Helen's wildlife sculptures of hares, foxes, birds and more can be found at the Tymhorau craft and flower shop in Machynlleth. Her large pieces are frost proof and make beautiful outdoor sculptures.

She uses a smooth crank or paper clay to enable her to catch the expressions in her dogs faces. She works with grogged clay to give her large sculptures the structure and strength needed for her outdoor sculptures. Her work is fired from 1100 to 1200 degrees making it frost proof. Helen uses various hand building techniques adding and taking away from the clay. She prefers a muted painterly effect which she achieves by using slips, engobes and oxides. Recently Helen has been experimenting with paper clay, as it is the perfect canvas for oxides.

Contact Helen