Alison Tomlin is a UK-based ceramic artist known for her refined porcelain work that balances simplicity of form with expressive surface decoration. Working primarily with wheel-thrown porcelain, she creates elegant, tactile vessels that range from functional wares to sculptural pieces, unified by a sensitivity to movement, colour and mark-making.

Before working with clay, Tomlin spent two decades as a graphic designer, a background that continues to inform her ceramic practice. This influence is evident in her considered approach to composition, her confident use of colour and her attention to surface. Drawing inspiration from sketches, painting and the textures of the everyday, she treats each form as a quiet canvas for intuitive gestures.

Her work often embraces the tactile qualities of porcelain, with many pieces left unglazed or only partially glazed to allow the material itself to be felt. Decoration is frequently applied on the wheel using stains, oxides and slips, through brushing, splashing, sponging or carving. This process welcomes unpredictability, allowing simple actions to animate the surface and give each piece its own rhythm and presence.

Tomlin’s ceramics invite close engagement, offering a sense of calm while retaining a lively, hand-made energy. She lives and works in the UK, continuing to explore the expressive potential of thrown porcelain through an intuitive and materially led practice.