Artists

Brendan Hesmondhalgh

Martin Norman

David Cooke

Joanne Cooke

 
Joanne Cooke - CV and Background


1991 - 1995 Manchester Metropolitan University

BA (Hons) 3D Design (Wood/Metal/Ceramics/Glass)

My ceramic work initially took the form of small scale boxes, a theme which began during the final year of my degree course. A few years after graduation, inspired by a sketch I had drawn of our "family dog", I decided to try making on a large scale. The experiance marked a major turning point inmy work. A dog obsession had begun.

At around the same time that I began sculpting dogs, I became involved with the Leeds-based Arts Charity - Pyramid Of Arts. They bring together artists with and without learning disabilities to work on challenging arts projects. For the last 18 months I have been working on a project with the adult group to produce a large scale outdoor sculpture which started as a seed of an idea put forward to the members by myself, and has now resulted, after lots of hurdles, in a magnificent tribute to teamwork. The group, working with myself and fellow Leeds-based ceramicist Cath Murphy, have produced a series of 5 ceramic towers ranging in height from 4 feet to almost 9 feet tall which is now on permanent display in the grounds of Thwaite Mills in Stourton, Leeds.