On the Solway Firth where I grew up there is a particular sort of salmon fishing, called Haafnetters, it is a nordic practice still practiced when allowed (but highly regulated since Brexit) on the Solway and in the Hebrides. The Haafnet is a large fork shaped net about half the width of a goal and as high as a person’s chest. It is structured on a wooden fork and a knitted net hangs from this. The fishermen stand in the oncoming tide catching the salmon as they leap upstream. This can be dangerous owing to the sands and the power of the tide.

So my cousin was coming back from fishing - I could see him from my mothers home and could see that his bag was heavy. I inquired as to whether there might be any fish to buy and the response was yes.

It was an eleven pounder so I asked if I could buy it. He agreed. Consequently I had to take the fish back to my mums house, but she wouldn’t let me in to gut it, so I had to gut it in the garage, and the light didn’t work. By this time it was 10pm and dark, so effectively I gutted and boned this fish in the dark and got a real sense of the feel of the thing and how it moved. When I returned home with my fillets - all frozen, I still had a strong memory of the fish so set about making my first ever pot.

This head came as my first adult interaction with clay and the head pretty much came out of itself.

The model was over full term with her pregnancy and was bursting out. I made a huge drawing with charcoal on cardboard and this is the final result.

On the Solway Firth where I grew up there is a particular sort of salmon fishing, called Haafnetters, it is a nordic practice still practiced when allowed (but highly regulated since Brexit) on the Solway and in the Hebrides. The Haafnet is a large fork shaped net about half the width of a goal and as high as a person’s chest. It is structured on a wooden fork and a knitted net hangs from this. The fishermen stand in the oncoming tide catching the salmon as they leap upstream. This can be dangerous owing to the sands and the power of the tide.

So my cousin was coming back from fishing - I could see him from my mothers home and could see that his bag was heavy. I inquired as to whether there might be any fish to buy and the response was yes.

It was an eleven pounder so I asked if I could buy it. He agreed. Consequently I had to take the fish back to my mums house, but she wouldn’t let me in to gut it, so I had to gut it in the garage, and the light didn’t work. By this time it was 10pm and dark, so effectively I gutted and boned this fish in the dark and got a real sense of the feel of the thing and how it moved. When I returned home with my fillets - all frozen, I still had a strong memory of the fish so set about making my first ever pot.

This head came as my first adult interaction with clay and the head pretty much came out of itself.

The model was over full term with her pregnancy and was bursting out. I made a huge drawing with charcoal on cardboard and this is the final result.