Chinese influence still inspires ceramic artists

A thick layer of clay dust coats Jessie Lee's work tables and shelves. Her studio abounds with vases and pots, but pride of place goes to a ceramic candlestick decorated with lotus flowers and a Chinese dragon coiled around the neck.

"I've kept it for 40 years. It was my first piece of work," said the 67-year-old Malaysian-born British ceramics artist, speaking at her studio in High Wycombe on the outskirts of London.

"My teacher told me to make something, so I made the dragon candlestick. The Chinese influence was strong when I started to learn about pottery in the 1970s," she said, contemplating the dragon with its piercing claws, surrounded by trailing clouds.