Ceramic Artist Julie Miles

Ceramic artist, Julie Miles


Julie Miles based at Barrowford in Lancashire went to college and originally wanted to become an embroiderer. However, as many of her family had worked as brick makers and tile painters in the Potteries, she decided to follow in their footsteps and became a ceramic artist.

In 1998 Julie graduated from Cardiff with an M.A. in Ceramics. During her career she has been artist in residence at Drumcroon Education Arts Centre in Wigan, Abraham Guest High School and Giggleswick School in Yorkshire.

Her work, inspired by nature, ranges from delicate porcelain pieces to large brick constructions. She uses brick clay in block form and carves the surfaces creating large scale works which give visual impact to portray scenes or stories on public buildings, playgrounds or landscape projects.

Much of Julie’s porcelain work is sold in galleries across the country, but she also helps community groups and schools with projects, ranging from sculptures, clay murals, mosaics, seating and way markers. Her clay workshops with disability art groups have proved to be especially rewarding.

Her technical skills incude basket making and sculptured work using willow and her technical skills involve screen printing fabric and clay, weaving, hand and machine embroidery, felt making bakik work

Examples of her work can be seen in

‘The Shoe Trail, Rossendale’ which celebrates the shoe and slipper industry in that area. Children in Rawtenstall created the designs and Julie Miles carved them in red brick from a local clay pit in Huncoat. In the 1900’s there were more than forty brickworks in the Rossendale area and many houses were built using the famous Accrington brick.

At the entrance to the car park to Marks and Spencers Simply Food store in Moortown, Leeds can be seen another fine example of her brick pieces of work art.

These brick thrones represent fruit and vegetables grown and harvested by children from their allotments in Birmingham, to produce a feast fit for a king and queen of the vegetable patch. The thrones will eventually be put in the school’s playground.

Julie Miles also makes delicate, unique porcelain vases She incorporates leaves,flowers, petals and seeds which are rolled onto the vase before the porcelain is dry leaving the imprint of their shape and the veins that run through them. Each piece is therefore unique. Her designs are simple and mostly white as she doesn’t like using bright colours.

Patrick Johnson 11S1