020 - Creativity, travelling and searching for home with Catherine Lucktaylor

Catherine Lucktaylor, using an ancient Japanese technique of Raku to create beautiful pieces of art, talks intimately about her search for home, after growing up in Liverpool being the only black child in her family and community.

In this episode we explore:

• The seasons
• The process of Raku
• The exploration of the Cornish landscape with art
• Juicy descriptions of artworks touched by nature
• Adinkra Symbols and the Orishas
• Embracing wildness
• Moving around the UK and still being close to nature
• Mixed-race upbringing
• A fascination with the spirit of nature
• Travelling to West African and how heritage feed into creativity
• The integration of the to selves
• The healing powers of nature
• The reciprocal connection with nature
• Quiet Activism
• Moving forward
• Grief and love

The five gates of grief as mentioned in this episode can be explored further through the book Francis Weller, The Wild Edge of Sorrow: Rituals of Renewal and the Sacred Work of Grief.

Catherine Lucktaylor is passionate about creating beautiful pieces of art through clay. Completing a Foundation course in Huddersfield, supported her connection to her African roots after growing up in England with her white English mother. 

She went on to complete a BA (hons) in Ceramics from Wolverhampton University. !n 1999, Catherine was awarded a Travelling Fellowship from the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust to travel in west Africa & Brazil researching traditional religion and sacred art. The journey also enabled her to find her Ghanaian father and connect with her African heritage further.  

After the birth of her son in 2007, she relocated to west Cornwall and made the decision to specialise in Raku fired ceramics. This is an ancient Japanese technique which basically means 'Enjoyment' and was originally used as part of traditional Japanese tea ceremonies. Raku has evolved in the West to become a vibrant and exciting technique to glaze studio ceramics with stunning and unpredictable results.    

Her Raku ceramics are available through galleries in Cornwall, London and Scotland and  she hosts regular open studio events where she demonstrates the Raku firing process.

 

Website: Lucktaylor Ceramics

IG: Lucktaylor Ceramics

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