An interview with our Studio Assistant, Luna van Mierlo

We thought some of you would be interested to learn more about Luna, our Studio Assistant, who joined us almost a year ago now and has since become such an integral part of the team. Here she talks a little about her journey into ceramics, the artists and ceramicists whose work she finds inspiring, and also her love of pastries. Eclectic!

When did you first start working with clay?

I think I’ve always enjoyed working with my hands, and my mum definitely encouraged and supported that side of me. When she realised the art education I was getting at school wasn’t great (we mostly made things out of old toilet paper rolls) her and a friend set up an after school craft class for me and two of my friends. The two of them made art fun and exciting and gave us an understanding of different artistic styles, materials and processes. I loved working with paper mache and fimo, but I think one of my earliest memories of working with clay was at my dad’s allotment. Being near a river, the soil was rich in clay. While my dad shovelled and raked, I’d sit on the ground and make little clay figurines, which he then proudly displayed on the garden wall.

“Being near a river, the soil was rich in clay. While my dad shovelled and raked, I’d sit on the ground and make little clay figurines, which he then proudly displayed on the garden wall.”

Where did you grow up?

I grew up in a city in Holland called Doesburg. It’s a lovely city, right next to a river and with a beautiful historical city centre. I think my friends and I were able to be fairly independent from a young age. It was such a safe city, and all the cycle lanes in Holland meant we could bike anywhere. We’d cycle to the local parks and rivers, build shelters in the bushes, and play games in the small parking lot next to my house. My dad worked as a journalist in Amsterdam, and on weekends we’d take long walks in the woods searching for mushrooms and eating as many birchnuts we could fill our stomachs with. My mum worked as a letter-cutter and had a studio in our back garden. I fondly remember hearing the gentle ‘tick tick tick’ sound of her chisel while she worked. 

Tell us about your lovely work and the inspiration / processes behind it all.

I take a lot of inspiration from Korean and Middle-Eastern pottery and love the eroded and weathered surface textures of ancient ceramics. Things like crackle, or crazing, give a surface depth, which I find adds interesting definition to a piece. Marks and grazes are signs that the piece has a history and a story to tell, which makes it all the more beautiful and intriguing to me. 

I love working with pattern and surface decoration, especially using floral and botanical motifs. In my recent work I have focused on creating designs that are calm and tranquil, very much like a shadow cast in dappling sunlight. I developed a technique using layered slips and multiple firings to achieve a certain depth and dream-like like quality in the glaze. 

“I love working with pattern and surface decoration, especially using floral and botanical motifs. In my recent work I have focused on creating designs that are calm and tranquil, very much like a shadow cast in dappling sunlight.”

Ceramics by Luna van Mierlo | Photography by Dylan Vaughan

Can you tell us a little about your time on the DCCOI Course in Thomastown?

Those were two incredibly stimulating years - I owe my throwing and glaze knowledge to the tutors on that course. Each of them were so skilled and generous with their knowledge, and without them the course would have not been the same. 

It was such an intensely creative environment – everyone who was there wanted to learn, and being there gave me the time to develop my designs and artistic preferences. The course was set in a beautiful old mill next to a river – sounds too good to be true, I know. The twelve of us worked closely together every day, so we got to know each other very well very quickly. It’s an experience that we have shared together, and I know I can reach out to any of them whenever I have a question or need some advice, and that alone is incredibly valuable. 

Ceramics by Luna van Mierlo | Photography by Dylan Vaughan

Are there any artists / potters / makers whose work you find particularly inspiring?

I think my favourite work is by an artist called Deirdre Hawthorne. I am not sure if she is still making, and I’ve only ever seen her work online, but I find her work incredibly inspiring. She makes beautiful saggar fired vessels that have faint impressions of imprinted leaves and marks, sometimes almost like a shadow. Her surfaces are so varied in texture and colour, yet so simple and delicate at the same time. Others would be Clare Halifax, who’s prints I find so unique, Anne Mette Hjortshoj, Jim Malone for his exquisite brushwork and Nancy fuller, who creates beautiful, serene pieces in her anagama kiln.

Have you got any advice for people starting out in ceramics?

Sadly a lot of university craft courses have closed or are closing, including the one I went to at Falmouth university. If you want to develop skills, I’d say you can either do an apprenticeship with someone, possibly funded through ‘Adopt a potter’, attend a skills-based course like I did, or teach yourself/attend classes. 

When you’re starting out, glazing can be a bit daunting. I’d suggest starting with following an online glaze course that breaks down the properties of a glaze. Once you understand how each material functions and how to make a glaze there’s endless possibilities when it comes to colour and surface quality. Once you start testing, you’ll discover glazes and textures that work specifically on your clay and in your kiln. I’d suggest starting with an existing glaze recipe and tweaking it. Once you’ve done a few tests you have physical examples of what you can make, which will actually give you a lot more freedom and scope for artistic interpretation. 

In terms of creativity it always helps me to remember that most of the time inspiration doesn’t come out of nowhere. I enjoy taking walks in nature and like to bring a sketchbook to note down colours, textures or marks that can be translated on to clay.

“In terms of creativity it always helps me to remember that most of the time inspiration doesn’t come out of nowhere. I enjoy taking walks in nature and like to bring a sketchbook to note down colours, textures or marks that can be translated on to clay.”

You have just moved to a new city and to a new job – have you always been so independent and up for new challenges / travelling – does it come naturally to you or is it something you’ve had to work on?

I don’t really think it comes naturally to me, because I actually enjoy being settled in one place. When my parents and I moved to the UK I was twelve years old and at an age where I was settled in my friend groups and home-town. At the time the move was quite difficult, and I think my parents wondered if moving was the right decision. However I now believe it’s one of the best things my parents have done for me. It not only put me out my comfort zone and taught me to make new friends, it also meant I was able to attend a better school. Now, I love England, and actually prefer it to Holland and feel very much at home here. I love meeting new people, and am enjoying getting to know Sheffield. 

How do you like Sheffield so far? Are there enough hills for you!?

Yes there are - I have become very good at finding the flattest cycle routes around town! However I do love how the hills offer so many different vantage points across the city. When I first moved here and visited the peaks for the first time I was awestruck. There’s something so romantic, bleak and beautiful about the wide expansiveness of the moors. I find the colours especially inspiring. They are so soft and pastel-like and I enjoy watching how their hues alter as the light changes throughout the day.

“There’s something so romantic, bleak and beautiful about the wide expansiveness of the moors. I find the colours especially inspiring. They are so soft and pastel-like and I enjoy watching how their hues alter as the light changes throughout the day.”

Aside from ceramics, are there any other crafts you enjoy? 

I enjoy doing watercolours and general sketching, mostly of close up objects such as plants or buildings. This is usually how I get my ideas for pattern and surface. I enjoy crochet, and at school I loved basketwork and silver-smithing. I think I find basketwork enjoyable because similarly to clay your hands are in direct contact with the material. Silver-smithing is different in that it requires tools, but I enjoy the precision that comes with it.

We often talk about food in the studio - do you enjoy cooking?

I love cooking. I find the process really relaxing, and plainly enjoy eating good food (who doesn’t?). Since living here I have found that Sheffield is spoilt for choice when it comes to delicious pastries, so I’ve been eating my fair share of those as well. The local bakery must be getting some good business out of me. I strongly believe you can never have too many chocolate croissants.

My housemates and I eat together every evening, which is probably one of my favourite times of day. Surely this is the best thing about food - it gives you the time to enjoy the company of the people in your life.