We’re now headed towards the busy winter season for 2024 and with that in mind I’ve been making and finishing decorations for the season. Some of these are returning favourites to the shop and some new ones. Returning to the shop will be the hand carved baubles which have both a round and pointed shape, they come in a variety of bright colours to match in with whatever theme your tree has. From royal blues to bright candy pinks, each one has been hand carved reminiscent of traditional victorian style cut glass. Also returning are the flat medallion decorations featuring pine cones, gingerbread ..read more

Lately I’ve been working away on a new set of dog bowls for the Hoxton Hotel in Shoreditch in London. These bowls were designed by them and include the distinctive stylised Hoxton ‘X’ branding logo. This was impressed directly into the clay using a custom stamp. The grey colour blocking was added by painting slip directly onto the bottom of each of the bowls and a third firing was needed to add the text transfers. If you’re looking to get custom pieces made for your business just get in touch to find out what we can do. You can also take a look at the kinds of homeware pieces we make over in t ..read more

This winter you’ll find me back again at The Hepworth Wakefield for the Winter market. I’ve been attending The Hepworth since 2019 but this one is going to be the biggest one yet! With 90 sellers and a preview evening for members on the Friday night. Everything from ceramics, prints, candles and homeware gifts both inside the Tileyard North and the main gallery area. The Tileyard is a beautiful venue hall which also has a cafe which will be serving a seasonal menu all weekend. You can also find drop in activities for all the family. Entry to the event is £2 per person or free for members. You ..read more

In the studio at the moment I’ve been making the Summer Series of running club awards for 2023, if you're part of the club you might get one of these as a prize! I’d been trying to think of a motif that really said ‘summer’ to me and the vibrant colours of butterflies as the float through the garden really say high summer to me. Butterflies in the garden really signal the very end of the summer since they seem to appear right before the end with their pretty dances in the air. Due to the nature of the butterfly motif on the front these mugs have a very simple shape, a complicated shape for the ..read more

A few years ago I started making pet bowls for the famous Gleneagles hotel in Scotland. These were quite large dog bowls with their logo stamped onto the bottom, text applied to both the inside and front of them. I’d actually been to Uni in Scotland so I didn’t realise how uncommon a phrase ‘slaiver-chops’ actually is until some followers of mine asked what it meant. It’s a slang term referring to the slobbering mouth of a dog, it’s also a term of endearment. Each of the bowls also had a two tone finish with the green on the inside and simply clay on the outer. Recently Gleneagles got in touch ..read more

Lately I’ve been working on a few custom named pieces for orders including this set of five mugs. These mugs have a floral pattern slip trailed on the surface with a background of orange and grey. The bright colours and florals will hopefully cheer up even the dull days of winter! It’s great to see this little group of mugs commemorating a friendship circle. The names on the front of these have all been hand etched into the surface giving a slightly indented surface. I’m also still working on named yarn bowls over the summer, now is a great time to order custom items since June-August tends to ..read more

It might be July but at the moment I’m doing a lot of preparation for the upcoming autumn/winter season with some returning seasonal items coming back to the shop. Last year was the first time I’d really been selling Christmas decorations in the shop and at the Wakefield winter market which I’ll hopefully be returning to this year. The range and size of decorations has expanded this year since they were so popular! The shapes and colour range of baubles has increased; the drop shaped, round and giant baubles. The flat coin decorations not pictured here now have four designs; pine cone, gingerb ..read more

Last year ceramic animal ornaments were introduced to the shop for the first time. Small blackbirds came to the shop in the summertime and were then joined by owls. Both of these are intended to be small sculptures for a bookcase or little nook at home. Now two new animals are joining the fold - little wrens and cats. The wrens are the smallest of the sculptures being tiny birds themselves, so far I’ve only had one in the shop. The cats are quite tall and narrow, sitting upright with a tail on the rear looking very poised. I wonder what animals will join them next? I’m very much hoping that af ..read more

Lately in the studio I’ve been making a lot of ceramic pet bowls for lots of different types of pet. They range in size from very large dogs to cats all of which have very specific needs. Sometimes pet owners get in touch and ask for specific types of feeding bowls to be custom made. One of these is the pedestal cat bowl, I’m hoping to add this style of bowl into the shop permanently since I quite like making them. The pedestal cat bowl is made in two parts - a tubular base piece or plinth, and the top bowl section. The base plinth is then cut at an angle for the bowl to sit on to create the p ..read more

Summer is a great time to place custom orders. With the busy Christmas and springtime over generally wait times for custom orders goes down. Most custom orders take 3-4 weeks to complete but during busy times this can go up to 4-8 weeks depending on the complexity of the order and number of pieces. Lately I’ve been working on a set of mugs for the Esk Valley Running Club. I tend to make these Dave Parry Race pieces every year so if you’ve been a member of the club for a while then you probably have a little collection by now! These mugs were hand etched with a pattern of hills for the runners ..read more