“Every leaf speaks bliss to me, fluttering from the autumn tree.”
– Emily Brontë

Hand thrown candle holder by Pottery West

Above, candleholder in flecked stoneware, sand (left), nori (middle), olive (right)- three freshly trimmed candle holders not yet fired….

When I put together our monthly studio journals it is almost impossible to not begin with the weather. Is it because I’m British and we live in a constantly shifting climate? Or perhaps it is because our new workshop doesn’t yet have heating installed and so we are feeling the onset of autumn a little more keenly than before…. Whatever the reason, I feel it is my duty to comment upon the most exquisite colours of the falling leaves this month, and also to say that yes, beeswax candles have been extremely popular, in fact we’ve almost sold out! A new delivery from Moorlands is imminent.

Shop

One of the pieces we’ve been making this month is our faceted flower frog. They are thrown thickly, then faceted the following day. It is so strange to throw so weightily, with great big thick walls, but as soon as we start to facet, a real transformation takes place. These are always really popular at Christmas, so watch this space for a restock in the coming weeks (we do have a few in stock now too).

This month we exhibited at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair - the first time back there in nine years! It was a really excellent event held in the most beautiful Victorian former baths. I found the architecture really inspiring. We met lots of interesting folk, both makers and customers, and also chatted to customers who have been following along from the very early Pottery West days. I still can’t believe that 2025 is our tenth year in business. Our stall neighbours were Norrska, who make exquisite architectural paper sculptures, and also Sophie Victoria Anderson, who makes beautiful enamel jewellery and objects. Always great to be exhibiting with such a diverse array of makers and all round lovely people. In less than two weeks time we are heading to Melton Mowbray for Potfest in the Pens, which we did last year and thoroughly enjoyed (despite the cold toes!).

*Current favourite of mine: Large pouring bowl in tenmoku and chun*

Teapots, finished and in progress. This week we are making a batch of teapots in time for Christmas and for one of our stockists - Niki Jones.

Shop Teapots

We are also starting on a second order of coffee sets for Katto this month, and in order to get all these pots made, Luna (our former studio assistant) has come to help us for a month. She’s been walking the Camino in Spain, but has kindly come back to cold and rainy Yorkshire to help us with this order. Thermals, hot water bottles, lots of tea and woolly jumpers have been dug out to ease her into chilly workshop mode. It’s really lovely to see her again and the studio is filling up with pots quicker than ever, which is somewhat a relief. Pottery is slow and we can only work as fast as our hands allow. Throwing into the mix the fact that our hands are also busy caring for three little ones, progress can sometimes seem painfully snail paced and it is only when you take a step back you can realise the extent of your output…

Last week I headed to Edinburgh with the kids for half term whilst Matt went on a van adventure to the Cairngorms, just for a few days. Me and two of the children caught the Andy Goldsworthy retrospective just in time. It was a really fascinating show, and if it wasn’t so busy, and if I didn’t have the baby with me, I could have spent a really long time there. The ochre earth, the cathedral like installation of the reeds, the barbed wire screen, they are all such fascinating re-interpretations of the materials I encounter daily in my walk from our home to the studio, through and past sheep fields, dry stone walls and barbed wire.

Edinburgh is just such an incredibly beautiful city and we visit often as we have family there (very, very luckily for us, just a stone’s throw away from the oh so tempting Lannan Bakery and a whole host of other exquisite places that should just take all my money). Whilst there I tried to pop in to one of our stockists, Edinburgh Mercantile, but it was so packed out with customers I couldn’t! I was so pleased to see business booming. We are making some pots for them at the moment, always a total pleasure.