We live and work at Rushton Farmhouse on the banks of the River Frome, where our creative practices have evolved in different but complementary directions. What we share is a deep commitment to making, a love of natural materials, and the quiet satisfaction of creative work woven into everyday rural life.

Anne’s practice has moved on from pottery into mosaics, a natural progression from the limitations of pure ceramics in relation to mixed media, colour and form. I work from a studio in the back garden overlooking meadows and the River Frome, drawing constant inspiration from the surrounding landscape. My mosaics incorporate natural materials, many of them foraged locally, including shale, handmade brick, Purbeck limestone and Portland stone. Colour, texture and variety are introduced through Venetian smalti glass, rocks, minerals, Dorset fossils and semi-precious stones (and bits of Jonathan's ceramics ....). The work reflects a strong sense of place alongside a love of combining contrasting materials in and unexpected ways.

Jonathan continues his ceramics practice in the converted milking parlour. He has been potting for over ten years, beginning with evening classes with an inspirational professional potter in the New Forest, and we both still regularly attend courses and workshops with leading tutors to develop our skills. In recent years Jonathan has focused on experimenting with local clay and is now refining his work further through the addition of silverwork, incorporating copper, bronze and handmade gold rivets. This mixed-media approach is distinctive and has evolved through patience, determination and resilience, as ceramics and metal present real challenges when brought together.

Although our practices have diverged, we remain united in our approach. We strive for authenticity, making the work we feel drawn to make, at the pace we want to work at. Creativity sits naturally alongside growing vegetables, reading, kayaking, grandparent pleasures and walking with our dogs. There is still plenty of cross-fertilisation between us—and the occasional act of espionage or outright theft of ideas is not unknown.

Our studios are places of calm and sanctuary, and we are never happier than when we are working at home, with both dogs, both cats, ducks and a Radio 4 play for company.