From the 16th August to the 8th September we will be holding a Home Pop Up opposite our Richmond Shop. The Pop Up brings together a unique curation of work from three London-based potters, together with new products from our TOAST New Maker Blue Firth and current House&Home pieces. Here we profile the three potters.
From the ancient pots of Cyprus, to the bold patterning of world textiles, there are myriad inspirations behind the work of ceramist Pip Hartle. Based in a self-built studio in North London, Hartle creates gentle and rustic stoneware pieces, designed with function at their very core.
Hartle came into ceramics in her thirties, having originally studied textiles at Goldsmiths. After learning to throw at Morley College, she then attended the open-access studio Turning Earth, where she progressed from member to studio manager. From there she went to The Kiln Rooms in Peckham, swapping skills, stories and advice along the way.
The patterning on Pip's ceramics is characterised by distinct lines and monochromatic glazes. Geometric triangular designs are blurry at the edges, and watery brush marks have been created through wax resist glaze techniques - Hartle never quite knowing how each will come out of the kiln.
Whilst influenced by the curvaceous shapes and palettes of ancient pottery, textiles still remain a key source of creativity for Hartle, and it is her appreciation for all art forms that makes her pottery unique.
(We currently have a selection of Pip Hartle pieces available online. The Pop Up will offer a unique, new collection.)
Edmund Davies (E.F. Davies)
Edmund Davies' sculptural ceramic pieces are distinct in their subtle, speckled glazes and precise forms.
With a background in architecture, Davies' designs take inspiration from modernist forms and utilitarian shapes, whilst paying homage to the artistic values of 20th century Studio Pottery. Squared handles and curvaceous silhouettes utilise a combination of hand-building processes and wheel thrown techniques - with marks of his gestures evident in each final piece.
Davies gathers his thoughts cycling up and down the River Lea to and from his shared studio in Bow, harnessing abstract thoughts and planning his week along the way. His choice of materials is uncomplicated; stoneware clay, iron flecked clay and pale satin glazes.
The wildly stacked ceramic cabinets on the top floor of the V&A provide inspiration for Davies, as well as his own eclectic mix of collected objects. Oaxacan hand-built terracotta plates from a market in Mexico sit on the shelves in Davies' home, combined with a jumble of antique Staffordshire oddities and, most prolifically, a family of salt-glazed ink bottles dug up from the garden of his brother.
The work of ceramicist Andrea Roman is deeply rooted in the natural elements from textures and subtle gradients, to the very materials she employs.
Born in Mexico City, Roman studied industrial design, where she specialised in slip casting and the industrial production of ceramics. After moving to London in 2013, she discovered Turning Earth, where she learnt to throw on the potter's wheel a process she instantly felt a deep connection to.
Drawn to the tactile and versatile nature of clay, Roman's work often employs heavily texturised clay, leaving large portions of the surfaces unglazed. Her straight lines and simple cylindrical forms allow her to focus on the clay body itself, and experiment with texture and tone.
Now based at an independent studio in Bow, that she set up with Edmund Davies, Roman's functional and meaningful pieces are characterised by their raw forms, referencing stone, soil and the land. She thrives from working in their shared studio space, where ideas, techniques, achievements and frustrations are constantly and openly shared.
Images of Pip Hartle by Roo Lewis. Images of Andrea Roman by Sebastin Ayala.
The Richmond Home Pop Up runs from 16th August to the 8th September.
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