Felicity Aylieff established her exhibiting career during the 1980s and early 90s showing work mainly in group shows at small but significant venues – Beaux Arts, Bath; Galerie L, Hamburg; Smiths Gallery, London; and Rufford Arts Centre, Nottingham. In 1990 she was an invited craftsman and guest at the British Fair hosted by Takashimaya, Japan. This involved participating in a touring exhibition, lecturing and demonstrations.

Her first significant solo exhibition was in 1996, The Elusive Body at the Victoria Art Gallery, Bath, a public museum and art gallery where she showed the results of her MPhil research undertaken at the RCA. This then toured to Gerd Werk, the centre for spatial and graphic design in Belgium, 1997. In 1998 she developed a new body of work for a solo exhibition, Dashed, Speckled, Brushed at Loes & Reinier, International Ceramics, Deventer, Netherlands. These smaller-scale, hand-formed works marked the beginning of her concern for the viewer’s perception and interaction with form and surface through touch. In 2000 new works emerged that were an increase in scale, press-moulded with ground and polished surfaces. These were shown at the Scottish Gallery in a solo exhibition accompanied by a catalogue, New Work, an Evolution. With some additional pieces this collection went on to Gallerie Marianne Heller in Heidelberg, Germany, in 2001. Also in 2001 Felicity was shortlisted for Jerwood Prize for Ceramics and the First World Biennale for Ceramics in Korea.

Sense and Perception, an exhibition at the Manchester City Art Gallery in 2002, saw the resolution of several years of research and preoccupation with tactility. Felicity made a collection of pieces specifically for their visual and physical tactile qualities. Experimental in scale and form, they were shown directly on the gallery floor to encourage interaction with the audience. This show was significant in that it was the first major solo exhibition of ceramics shown in the main gallery of Manchester Art Gallery, and it allowed the audience to experience the work directly through touch. The exhibition was supported by the Arts Council and the project was in collaboration with Manchester Metropolitan University. A catalogue (with two essays) was published and the exhibition toured to two further venues, Bath Art Gallery and Blackwell House, Cumbria.

In 2007 an exhibition at the Carlin Gallery in Paris showed a new group of work that returned to the ‘vessel’ as part of the investigation. The pieces explored textured surfaces using hand-forming techniques and were layered with polychromatic colour to create a visual interference with the surface of the form. In 2008 these works were shown at the Quest Gallery in Bath. Additional monochromatic works in celadon were used as a counterpoint to the coloured works. A catalogue was produced for this venue, Four Pots and Twelve Jars.

In 2007 Felicity undertook a research sabbatical in China. With Arts Council funding the resultant work was exhibited in a touring show that started at Canary Wharf. Her diary of her time in China was published as a book, Out of China, and also she produced a short film of her work practice and experience.

Further research in China looking at traditional techniques and possibilities for contemporary interpretations culminated in a solo exhibition, Working to Scale at Contemporary Applied Arts in 2009. A catalogue was produced as documentation.

In 2010 she undertook a short residency at the Royal Delft Porcelain Factory in the Netherlands, her first experience working with industry. A professional film was made documenting the research. It is proposed that a series of her designs will be produced by Royal Delft, and the complete works produced during her residency were shown at Galerie Terra Delft in 2011.

In November 2011 she was one of four artists included in the exhibition Porcelain City at the TT Tsui Gallery of Chinese Art at the Victoria and Albert Museum, with work made in Jingdezhen, China, the historic world centre of porcelain production. Two monumental works were selected for display – one example of blue and white painting, the other of Fencai colour ware. A publication was produced –Porcelain City Jingdezhen, with an essay, 'Scooters, Buddahs and Waterlilies' by Aylieff – and during the exhibition period she gave two public talks and ran a workshop for the education programme.

Writing exhibition reviews and articles are part of Felicity’s practice along with presentations, lectures and masterclasses. Most recently she was national commissioner for the European Ceramic Context 2010, selecting and writing about artists’ work from the UK, and a panel member for the selection of the Jerwood Makers 2011 prize and exhibition.