Jill Ford followed her heart and switched to being a ceramist.

She tells Zoe Walker about the work that has her all fired up with enthusiasm

NEARLY a year ago ceramist Jill Ford did what so many people dream of but don't follow through - she started her own business. Working from a workshop in the garden of her Ellerton home, Jill makes porcelain vases and candlesticks. There's an air of calm about the place, an aura of tranquillity. Jill loves her work, and it's a love born from doing exactly what she wants in just the way she wants to.

Having built a career as a teacher and mother, Jill decided it was time to take a break. So when her youngest child started secondary school, Jill, who in her spare time plays keyboards in rock band Mid Life Crisis, went back to college and completed a two-year HND course at York College, specialising in ceramics.

"I had an absolute ball at college," she says "and being a teacher it was nice to have someone teaching me and guiding and focusing on my work for a change. That was really good."

Talking about her influences, Jill says she has taken inspiration from London-based ceramist Edmund de Waal. "He is probably the master," says Jill. "And he is very happy to pass on his expertise and knowledge." Jill's ceramics are unfussy with clean, with minimalist lines and simple curves. "Although the candlesticks are rather more quirky," she says.

"I work in porcelain and it's really difficult to throw with porcelain. It doesn't have a lot of wet strength so it can tend to crumple really easily - it gets tired and you have to work it really, really quickly.

"I always say that porcelain is a hard task master but I love the purity of it. It's very sensual and very silky to work with. Texture is very important to me - and my work tends to be very tall and thin. Maybe that says something about me - that I have always wanted to be tall and thin!

"The vases take maybe only ten minutes to throw because you cannot work on porcelain for too long. Then they dry out, then they are turned and then they are bisque fired after that. Then I sand them because I am aiming for a really high quality product."

Candlesticks are adorned with feathers or solid silver wire. Some have textured tops and the dimpled surface is thin enough to allow candlelight to shine through the porcelain.

There is a considered purpose behind Jill's thoughtful work. She believes that we can create a sense of peace and harmony - simply by surrounding ourselves with beautiful, sublimely peaceful things made from natural materials.

Earlier this year, Jill worked with the Barwic Parade Primary School in Selby on a ceramics peace project and community installation. Some 300 clay models were set out in concentric circles as part of a project designed to help children explore their attitudes towards peace and conflict around the time of the Gulf War.

"I found that my children and the children at school were a bit twitchy around the time of the war and it was my way of concentrating their hopes for the world," says Jill.

"They all made a model and talked through what they wanted for the world and their school. They gave the model their wish and fired it - all the teachers and the dinner ladies did one as well."

Jill is building up the number of galleries stocking her work and hopes to be able to sell her ceramics by mail order catalogue soon. She has a summer exhibition running at the Pyramid Gallery in Stonegate, York, which is her first major show.

"The business is really just starting," says Jill. "I would like to get into more galleries up and down the country and to carry on with ceramics teaching. And to raise the profile of ceramics teaching."

Prices start at around £25 for candlesticks and £40 for vases.

Jill Ford's work is on display at the Summer Exhibition at the Pyramid Gallery, 43 Stonegate, York. Visit www.pyramidgallery.com

To order Jill's work contact her at jillfordceramics@aol.com

Updated: 09:32 Tuesday, July 15, 2003