Penny has been investigating the importance and relevance of function and form for several years. Three dimensional objects can readily be identified by touch, which gives a material connection with the object. The production of a functional vessel imposes certain limits on creativity, but for some ceramic artists those creative freedoms cannot be separated from the making process. Function can act as an entry point to explore the challenges of designing a utilitarian object. The inviting, tactile qualities of clay reveal the touch of the maker. As a maker Penny has been comparing how ceramics are used, valued, seen and understood by analysing the importance of function and aesthetics in design.

Living in Cornwall for more than 40 years, being surrounded by  coastal rock formations, the County's famous mining heritage, the China clay industry and the geology of the Cornish landscape is the backdrop for these new  investigations, exploring the tension between function and fragility in the  ware being produced.

The use of porcelain in contrast with smooth black stoneware and oxides symbolize the veins and strata of the granite outcrops and coastal rocky formations. Creating a discourse between the fragile existence of these landscapes and the fading Cornish industries.