Category: Uncategorized

Ceramics and pottery captivates hobbyists, artists and collectors around the world, and stands on the shoulders of some innovative and creative figures.

From traditional techniques to contemporary working practices, pottery has had a series of exceptional potters and studios that have had a huge impact on the industry.

Here, we detail some of the most influential potters, artists, and studios that you need to know about.

Influential Potters

1. Josiah Wedgwood ~ In the 18th century, Josiah Wedgwood revolutionised ceramics with his innovative production techniques. His company, Wedgwood, became synonymous with high-quality ceramics and remains a prominent name in the industry today.
2. Bernard Leach ~ Working in British studio pottery in the early 20th century, Bernard Leach’s designs blend Eastern and Western techniques. Leach Pottery in St Ives, Cornwall, is still running today where you can learn pottery or purchase art in the Leach style.
3. Lucie Rie ~ A contemporary of Bernard Leach, Austrian-born Lucie Rie brought a modernist approach to pottery. Known for her elegant forms and experimental glazes, Rie’s work is celebrated for its simplicity and refinement. Her influence is seen in the minimalist aesthetics embraced by many modern potters.
4. Shoji Hamada ~ A Japanese potter and a key figure in the mingei (folk craft) movement, Shoji Hamada’s philosophy emphasized the beauty of everyday objects. His rustic, utilitarian pottery is held up as the ideal of functional art and has inspired countless artisans around the world.

Iconic Pottery Studios

1. Wedgwood | Barlaston, UK ~ Founded by Josiah Wedgwood in 1759, Wedgwood is one of the most renowned pottery companies in the world. The Wedgwood factory in Barlaston continues to produce fine ceramics and is home to the Wedgwood Museum, which showcases the rich history and innovations of this iconic brand.
2. Leach Pottery | St Ives, UK ~ Established in 1920 by Bernard Leach and Shoji Hamada, the Leach Pottery is one of the most respected studios in the world. It continues to produce high-quality ceramics and offers educational programs, maintaining its role as a cornerstone of the studio pottery movement.
3. Heath Ceramics | Sausalito, USA ~ Founded in 1948 by Edith Heath, Heath Ceramics is renowned for its mid-century modern designs and high-quality craftsmanship. The studio produces a range of tableware and tiles that combine aesthetic appeal with practical use. Today, Heath Ceramics remains a beloved brand, reflecting Edith Heath’s vision of simple, well-designed pottery.
4. Middleport Pottery | Stoke-on-Trent, UK ~ Known as the home of the popular TV show, The Great Pottery Throw Down, Middleport Pottery is steeped in history. This working pottery factory, established in 1888, offers a glimpse into traditional pottery-making methods and serves as a vibrant cultural and educational site.

Modern Studios

The world of pottery is rich with history and innovation, thanks to the contributions of influential potters, artists, and studios.

Names like Grayson Perry, known for his provocative and colorful works, and studios like The Kiln Room in London, which offers a collaborative space for emerging potters, are shaping the future of ceramics.

Valerie and John Ceramics

If you’re curious about what I do, please come and check out my own work at Valerie and John Ceramics. Thanks!

A bit different from my other blog posts, I thought I’d write a short note on the importance of creativity in our lives and why I love pottery so much!

In our tech-mad world, our time is centred around our phones, our laptops, our TV.

Podcasts, music, YouTube and TikTok, the next binge-worthy series, our email inbox and whatever online work our jobs may ask us to do – whether waking up and scrolling or collapsing on the sofa after work, there are few places that exist without technology.

---

While you might not have heard the phrase ‘tech saturation’ before, I know the idea of it won’t be new to anyone – we’ve all read or heard people complaining about tech taking over the world!

---

That’s why I wanted to write this little post celebrating how brilliant pottery, creativity and our hobbies are.

It’s a chance to escape the tech hubbub of our daily lives, get into a state of flow and practice deep work – a phrase reserved for when we get truly absorbed in whatever we’ve focused on. Creatives have long found that getting into a flow state frees up your mind to new ways of solving problems, coming up with new ideas and making unexpected connections too. Artists, writers and even tech moguls and ceos talk about the importance of getting away from noisy society and enjoying time to yourself, on something you love.

Pottery does that for me – once you begin making a new piece, it’s easy to get lost in the process until it’s finished.

I think most people already have an activity that gets them into that flow state – drawing, writing, crocheting, gardening, walking, even joining a sports team, can all get you into that focused, creative, problem-solving state too.

If you haven’t got lost in a project or activity for a while, consider this your call to get back into it! And if you’re not sure where to start, I’d highly recommend testing your skills with pottery.

Thanks for reading – if you’re interested in seeing what kind of things I make, please do take a look at my pottery shop.

Whatever your field, it’s always lovely hearing pearls of wisdom from people who are real masters of their craft – and a few words in the right order can be the perfect boast of inspiration when you’ve hit a roadblock or need a lift.

Below you’ll find a list of beautiful quotes to motivate or make you think. While these quotes about pottery and ceramics don’t reveal the secrets of these masters, you may find a line or two that really resonate with you.

I think of life as a unity.This unity includes mountains, mice, rocks, trees, and women and men.It is all one lump of clay. – Ruth Duckworth

The best view is always from the mountain you’ve climbed. Art is a process. It’s expressing yourself and doing something, and throwing yourself into it and getting better at it and trying again. – Grayson Perry

To make pottery is an adventure to me, every new work is a new beginning – Lucie Rie

Try not to fuss and fiddle with your pots; you will only succeed in robbing them of their character – Phil Rogers

I aim to be at the same time both very serious and quite silly, simple and clever, adult and child. – Kate Malone

Pottery has its own language and inherent laws, and words have theirs, and neither can be bound by the other. – Bernard Leach

Rhythm is very important. – Karen Karnes

I try not to invoke emotions with representational imagery from my surrounding, but rather lead the viewer into their own. – Alison Britton

There’s a prayer that goes into digging the clay, there’s a prayer that goes into refining it.There’s a prayer for making the pots, and maybe two prayers for bringing them to the dealer. – Susan Peterson

My patterns are inspired by the form of the pots themselves. I like patterns that are a natural result of the pot’s shape. – Shio Kusaka

I hope these quotes have inspired you and provided a little insight into how some of the most accomplished potters out there approach their work. Thanks for reading!

If you’re curious about what I make, please take a look at my Valerie and John Ceramics shop.

Ceramics and pottery have been at the heart of human civilization for thousands of years. This unique material is used for big important events and for our small daily rituals.

Durable and versatile, clays have been used to create everything from functional tools to inspiring works of art. Some of our most treasured clayware may go unnoticed in our day-to-day lives – items such as a favourite mug or pen holder. This blog delves into the fascinating history of ceramics, tracing its evolution from ancient times to the contemporary era.

Where did ceramics originate?

The origins of ceramics can be dated back to our prehistoric ancestors who experimented with making storage vessels, cooking pots and figurines.

Cave discoveries in China

Some of the earliest discovered evidence of pottery use in Asia was in the Xianrendong Cave in Jiangxi province in China. Here, prehistoric shards of pottery dating back nearly 20,000 years were unearthed. There are even scotch marks indicating they may have been used as cooking pots.

The Venus of Dolni

The Venus of Dolní Věstonice might be the oldest piece of ceramic artwork in existence. She’s a figurine dating back to about 29,000–25,000 BCE, and was discovered in the Czeck Republic in a layer ask broken into two pieces. She was once on display at the Moravian Museum in Brno in Prague, but these days is protected and rarely seen by the public.

Landmark inventions

Ceramics have always been a valuable commodity, and through much of history there were few other materials that could rival its properties.

Pottery techniques developed to make stronger, more uniform ceramics in quicker time. Mesopotamia, Ancient China, Ancient Greece and Rome

When was the potter’s wheel invented?

The potter’s wheel was invented around 3,500 BCE in Mesopotamia. It marked a significant leap forward allowing pottery to be produced much more quickly and uniformly.

When was porcelain invented?

Porcelain was created in Ancient China by the Tang Dynasty (618–907 CE). It quickly became sought after for its strength, translucence and beauty – and, due to its shrinkage rate, it provided the opportunity to create more intricate, delicate designs. Porcelain became prized throughout China and a major export, admired all around the world.

Mass production pottery

During the UK’s Industrial Revolution across the 18th and 19th centuries, mechanical inventions meant that functional and artistic ceramics could be made on a mass scale. This mass production meant popular styles could be accessed by anyone and everyone.

This allowed certain artists and designers to truly stand out and reach the general population via production pottery studios. Top ceramicists such as Josiah Wedgwood’s became household names.

After the Industrial Revolution, the Arts and Crafts movement inspired many artists to revive traditional craftsmanship techniques too, and so both mass production ceramics and small batch ceramics have found there places in today’s world.

What’s ahead?

Contemporary ceramics continue to push boundaries, with artists experimenting with new forms, techniques, and materials.

High-tech ceramics, such as bioceramics and advanced structural ceramics, have found applications in fields ranging from medicine to aerospace, so we’re sure to see many more breakthroughs thanks to this versatile material in the future.

In today’s post-covid world, where people still spend a large amount of time connecting online, there’s been a growing interest in the slow living movement. This includes a renewed interest in ancient pottery and ceramic techniques – with small batch studios popping up and pottery classes becoming more and more popular.

From the invention of the pottery wheel through to the Arts and Crafts movement, there’s been a huge range of inventions and developments that have impacted our relationship with pottery and ceramics.

Yet it looks as though the simple art of making a pot hasn’t changed very much since our ancestors first discovered the beauty and functionality of ceramics in prehistoric China.

Ceramics shop

If you are curious about what I make, please take a look at my Valerie & John Ceramics shop on Etsy. Thanks for reading!

Homepage

You could go on forever learning about clay and pottery – and the endless tools, types and techniques that can be achieved.

Stronger, hardier clays and increasingly vibrant, exceptional glazes are constantly being created too, it’s never-ending.

A simple place to start for a solid foundation on pottery and ceramics is the four types of clay.

What are the four types of clay?

The four most commonly accepted types of clay are: earthenware, stoneware, porcelain and ball clay.

Earthenware – for decorative indoor ceramics, and glazes often show up vibrantly on earthenware compared to other types of clay

Stoneware – strong and often used for homeware or outdoor pieces.

Porcelain – strong and shrinks by 20% in the kiln, far more than any other type of clay, so often used for delicate sculptures and art

Ball clay – super strong and hardy, and often used in commercial pottery

What is the most common type of pottery?

Earthenware is the most common type of clay for the stunning, bright glazes you can use with it. I haven’t mentioned terracotta clay yet and that’s because terracotta is a type of earthenware – it’s loved and has a long history, having been a popular choice among potters for centuries.

What type of clay do I use?

At the moment, primarily porcelain and stoneware because I like the finish and hardiness of these two clays. I usually use smooth clays but occasionally I get stuck into grogged stoneware, which gives an unusual gritty finish as through someone has kneaded sand into the clay.

If you would like to see some of my work, please take a look at my Etsy shop.

No matter how careful we are with our favourite pieces of jewellery, if an item gets worn a lot then over time it’s sure to pick up oils off our skin, make-up and perfume can affect it, and even the humidity in the air can eventually tarnish sterling silver.

Being able to care for jewellery, especially pieces that are especially important to us, is a great way to ensure your favourite necklace or pair of earrings will last the test of time.

How to store your jewellery

The first step in protecting your jewellery is always to ensure it gets stored correctly. It’s super easy and not complicated to store jewellery correctly. Simply store your jewellery in a clean, dry container – jewellery boxes and bags are made for it!

Cleaning sterling silver jewellery

The best home remedy for cleaning jewellery is to use washing up liquid and warm water and soaking your jewellery in it for 5 – 10 minutes.

You can get products like jewellery wipes, and clothes specially made for sterling silver if you really love your jewellery and want to do all you can to keep it looking it’s best. A quick wipe over once every now and then with a cloth should be enough for classic jewellery you wear daily, and a more thorough clean will be needed once there’s a noticeable change in the shine of your sterling silver.

Check any instructions first

– especially if your item is particularly valuable or unusual!

Always check if there are any instructions with your jewellery first before testing a home remedy for cleaning it, as different metals and gems need different types of cleaning. Some will need more gentle products and tact, while others need a thorough scrub to get a real shine back.

Ceramic and sterling silver jewellery

Our jewellery is a combination of porcelain ceramic and 925 sterling silver, to ensure the ear wires can sit comfortably in your ear all day every day.

Glazed ceramics are even simpler to clean than sterling silver – a cloth with warm water will do the trick! Unglazed ceramics are more complicated, however a wipe with warm water will still keep it in good condition. Clay earring pendants are much hardier than sterling silver so should remain looking good for as long as you own them, with little need to give them a clean. Take a look at our collection of ceramic and sterling silver jewellery in our Etsy shop!

Please reach out below via social media or email if you are interested in stocking my work – I’d love to hear from you! I can provide prices for my prints, ceramic jewellery or larger pottery items, always happy to be flexible with timings, discuss any preferred designs, and visit or post items if you’re based outside of the South West.

• Instagram
• Facebook