Jennie Hale
"Her work is a direct reflection of her encounters in the wild."
Jennie is a Cornwall based artist/potter living and working by Colliford Lake on Bodmin, in a custom built workshop, after 30 years working in an old calf shed. It is here that she finds the creatures that inspire her. Born on the west coast of Scotland she spent her early years until she was 12 exploring the islands and hills with her father, by boat and on foot. Her family then settled in Devon outside Dartmouth, here she continued to go fishing with her father and exploring the valleys on foot alone.
The love of wild places has never left her and she now explores on foot and In her sea kayak, making drawings of the places and the creatures she encounters, not only in Devon. Her adventures have lead her to the high mountains and islands of Scotland again and further afield in Spain, Mexico and Nepal where she climbed to high altitude still drawing painting as she travelled and now to the USA where she has been guest artist and speaker in Portland Oregon and Amherst Massachusetts.
She has compiled all these drawings and painting into nature diaries that she has kept since 1993, In 2007 the nature diary of and artist was published by A&C Black which is a year of these notes and drawings. Her work is a direct reflection of her encounters in the wild.
Her Studio is designed around her production of Raku fired sculpture, using a top hat Raku kiln designed and built by Jennie and her thrown earthenware, she uses two 16 cubic foot electric Kilns and one 19 cubic foot top hat gas kiln so her working practice is divided between the two distinct processes.
Each day Jennie walks and makes drawings of the items that interest her it may be bugs or the ripples in the river that she lives besides , these drawings are compiled into her nature diaries which Jennie has been compiling for over 25 years.
Her work is in national and private collection through out the world.