Julie Brooke was born in Malawi and began a formal education in ceramics through an apprenticeship at the Barbara Davidson Pottery in Scotland.
She now lives in San Diego in the United States - where she is known as "The Scottish Potter".
She has been making fantastic delicate art pottery for over 30 years and is a specialist in crystalline glazes.
Crystalline is a specialist type of glaze where zinc silicate crystals form in the glaze during the kiln firing process. The glaze is mixed using a variety of raw materials, some measured in minute amounts.
The firing process uses a complex schedule with several temperature ramps to create different crystal growth formations. The kiln is fired to a maximum temperature of around 130 centigrade and then cooled to specific holding temperatures to allow crystals to form in the glaze. The amount of time held at this temperature contributes to the size of the crystals. Crystals occur randomly in the glaze, making each piece unique. As you can see this is a complex and skilled process.
Julie Brooke was a regular exhibitor at the Open Eye Gallery in Edinburgh. She has also exhibited her work at the National Museum of Scotland.
In 1989, Brooke had a solo show of crystalline-glazed porcelain at the MOA gallery in the Melrose district of Los Angeles.
In 1992, she organized and implemented Part 1 of the Chinese Ceramic Exchange, during which twenty American and Canadian potters traveled to the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing, China to demonstrate Western ceramic techniques.
The following year, Brooke organized and implemented Part 2 of the Chinese Ceramic Exchange, during which two esteemed professors from the Central Academy of Arts and Design came to San Diego to lecture and experience first-hand contemporary ceramics in the Western United States.
This is a delightful little miniature bottle vase by Brooke. It has a rich mustard yellow base tone - with random areas of crystalline inclusions all over, as photographed
It is a small piece - but perfectly formed!
Dimensions: 3 1/2 inches in height and with a diameter of 2 1/4 inches.
I have taken lots of images for your inspection.
These little vintage pots by Julie Brooke are now very difficult to source. This one is fully signed to the base and dated 1998 - so a fine early piece.