Article in Clay Craft Magazine Issue 40

by Sarah Monk | Sep 30, 2020 | inspiration, News, Pottery Studio Life

Lovely article in Clay Craft Magazine!

Ceramic journalist Paul Bailey writes about how I got into ceramics and the current everyday running of my Herefordshire studio. Paul delves into the courses and workshops and the inspiration behind my most recent designs.

Clay Craft Magazine is jam packed full of inspiration for potters as well as providing simple projects for all abilities. Such a lovely vibrant magazine!

Thank you Clay Craft and a big thank you to Paul for writing it!

You can find my proflie article in Issue 40 and it’s titled ‘Surrounded By Ceramics’.

slipware cup handmade spoon and biscuit plate by sarah monk ceramics plus clay craft magazine font cover

holding a slipware cup with tea inside and holding magazine article

scribble hand thrown teapot by sarah monk ceramic

When I recieved my copy, I settled down in the corner of my studio with a nice cup of tea, a few biscuits and had a good read!

I have now ordered a subsription and look forward to receiving it regularly!

Slipware Studio Pottery

by Sarah Monk | Feb 17, 2020 | Pottery Studio Life

I’m really into making slipware. I use terracotta clay because it has a deep, rich depth of colour and is a dream to throw with. It feels like melting chocolate through my fingertips.

I’m very interested in surfaces. When you brush white slip over terracotta it has a deep earthy quality. I work quickly on this, scratching into it (sgraffitto) with random scribbles and doodles. It’s an instinctive and intuitive process. I do not deliberate or labour over the surfaces. I like to mess them up a little too with a few random splats of coloured slip or underglaze.

It’s all about the human element for me, layering up surfaces, rather like a painter at a canvas…. mark making and doodling.

I finish off my pieces with a clear lead-free earthenware glaze. This makes them smooth to touch and also durable for everyday use.

My Studio at Eastnor Pottery

by Sarah Monk | Feb 17, 2020 | inspiration, Outside, Pottery Studio Life

I love my studio. Nestled below the Malvern Hills, on The Eastnor Castle Estate and just 2 miles from the charming market town of ledbury it’s the perfect location. The building itself has character. It’s a listed building, over 200 years old held together with blacksmith nails, wattle & daub, wooden beams and thick stone walls, made contemporary by painting the interiors bright white and vibrant blues. Eastnor Pottery was once a domestic dwelling, a quaint little bungalow comprising of 2 bedrooms (now office and kiln room), a living room (now reception room & studio space) , the outside loo (now the clay store), boiler shed (shop & extra studio space). The Eastnor Castle Estate Company kindly knocked a door through into an adjacent farm building to create our largest studio space which we call the Main Studio.