Lesley McInally

Lesley McInally was born in Scotland and completed her Bachelor of Design Honours Degree in Ceramics and Printmaking at Dundee University. She now lives in Cookstown, Ontario.

For the first 8 years of her career she was as a full time professional ceramic artist producing both functional and decorative ceramics for galleries throughout the UK. Additionally she taught ceramics in various educational environments both to adults and children.

In 2004 she emigrated to Canada, basing her studio in Cookstown, Ontario (north of Toronto). Since arriving in Canada Lesley has concentrated on and developed her unique hand built paperclay sculptures and vessels and has gathered a dedicated base of collectors both private and public. She is regularly invited to demonstrate her stretched slab hand building methods to numerous guilds, educational establishments and arts associations throughout Ontario as well as juror for art organizations including the Ontario Arts Council.

Lesley has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards and grants and exhibits her work throughout Canada and internationally.“Landscape, seascape and historical monuments have had a strong influence in my approach to clay. The new series of work examines the relationship between landscape and manmade structures which were at some point in the past abandoned, leaving it to be transformed through time by the natural forces of its environment; sun, sea, wind and rain.” – L.McInally