A little break from glazing pots and loading kilns to write this journal. I failed this task last month, there were simply not enough hours, and so the last journal was from the bright days of July. But I feel bereft when I don’t commit my studio musings down to paper. Time does seem to whizz by but I am glad to be in the realm of Autumn again. Colour, cosiness, hunkering down, it suits me. Frankly, the colours of Autumn suit our pots.

I’m writing this from our seaside holiday in Suffolk. Days on the beach, walking to the harbour, eating too much ice cream, taking photos of our pots in front of flint walls or on the sand dunes!

For the past eight weeks or so we have been working towards a new body of work to add to our online shop and bring to our Summer exhibitions. Part 1, Flowers and Tea, will be available for sale on our website on Thursday 25th June at 19:00 UK time. The collection differs slightly to our usual standard ware ranges in this these are one-offs, experimental pieces or special editions and each one of these pieces has been reduction fired in a gas kiln.

Firstly, the making has been focussed towards filling the large gas kiln at the Yorkshire Artspace, which we will be firing next month. We’ve been working on firm favourites such as our Autumnus Bowls (pictured above), mugs, vases, large bowls. We still have a way to go in terms of making and glazing, with items on the list such as one-off teapots, oil burners and beakers.

In the last week Matt has been throwing a series of Autumnus vases and bowls (video snippet below) and it has been really satisfying to see the studio filling up with larger and more dominant forms. It is a confident start. The Autumnus vases are one the larger forms we make and they are so visually striking both the end result but also seeing them thrown on the wheel. The plasticity of the clay is really pushed and occasionally the sides of the bowl just collapse in a heap. Luckily not so this week. These bowls and vases are designed to be used with the niwaki kenzan and we will hope to release them for sale in August and September - harvest time when the garden is brimming with flowers and grasses to collect and display.

Mugs are probably the most popular thing we make. Who doesn’t love a mug? Functional and beautiful, the humble mug has the ability to elevate even the most everyday experience into something notable… We’ve been perpetually out of stock of our some styles for a while but now we have just replenished, I thought I’d re-introduce you to some of our regular styles of mug.