I have been busy collaborating with Bamford for a few years. We have produced several beautiful porcelain pieces together in colours to compliment their luxurious womenswear range.
I am delighted to be collaborating with Midgley Green, who are shopkeepers based here in the South West in Clevedon. They are working with makers to bring homewares with honesty, integrity and simplicity. They value traditional methods of making without losing sight of contemporary aesthetic. Their brand is proud of heritage, not shy of tradition and determined to use materials found on their doorstep by supporting today’s makers who feel the same way.
I have been busy designing and making a select group of truly individual pieces for them. Please do head over to their stunningly beautiful website to see more www.midgleygreen.com
I am very proud to be one of four British designer-makers working for the Sheila Bownas archive under the careful stewardship of Chelsea Cefai. This collaboration brings together a collection of stylish and contemporary pieces for the home. It is a privilege to be showing my work alongside the fabric by Sarah Waterhouse, furniture by Parlour and lighting by Zoe Darlington.
To commemorate what would have been Bownas’ 90th year, this collection draws upon the newly released pattern ‘West Riding’. It’s distinct structural lines reflect elements of the architecture in Linton and surrounding villages of North Yorkshire where Bownas lived and worked until her death in 2007.
This collaboration has been a real joy to be a part of. I have worked closely with Chelsea to develop a trio of porcelain vessels that capture the essence of the West Riding pattern. Each porcelain piece is thrown individually by me on the wheel and then left to dry. When dry, I painted the pattern free-hand onto each pot in wax. A wet sponge is then used to wipe away the top layers of clay, leaving the pattern in resist. The wax burns away in the first firing, leaving the crisp outline of the design. A glossy grey glaze is then applied to the inside of each pot and fired to 1260 C. After the glaze firing, each vessel is diamond-polished by hand to leave it very smooth and tactile. Learning the 'water-etching' technique for this project has been a delight and is already inspiring me to look at incorporating it into some more lines of work. The pieces are available to purchase here.
For more information on the fascinating story behind the archive, you can read more here.
The beautiful images are courtesy of Fiona Murray Photography.