Logo 21 Sleaford Road
Cranwell Village
Sleaford
NG34 8BU

01539 606640
ruth@lfix.co.uk

My pottery

I make traditional, hand-thrown stoneware pottery, both standard sized and miniature.

I began with normal-sized pieces and then tried making small pots; the challenge has been to make ever smaller ones.

My standard pieces are mostly functional pots, particularly jugs, vases and bowls; the miniatures are the same shapes, reduced to approximately 1/12th scale. Each piece is individually made and unique; therefore I can make similar but never identical pots.

Stoneware

Glazed pottery is usually fired in two stages. First, the shaped clay is fired to 1000°C, which turns the clay hard. Then it is glazed and fired again, this time to 1260°C. At this temperature, parts of the clay begin to turn to glass, so that the body of the pot, as well as the glaze, is impervious. As a result, the whole piece is much stronger than earthenware, which is glazed at a lower temperature.

I am attracted by the subtlety and depth of stoneware glazes. At the moment, I buy in most of my glazes from Bath Potters and Potterycrafts, but in the future I hope to find time to develop my own glazes.

Products

I occasionally sell through craft fairs or exhibitions.

My pots, whether doll's house pottery or standard size, are also available from my on-line shop.

Picture of Ruthcat and pot I trained at Dorset House School of Occupational Therapy, which is now part of Oxford Brookes University, and worked on and off mostly in mental health units, in between travelling, getting married and having five children.

My best job ever was part-time at Oxford's Warneford Hospital, where I managed the pottery and got the greatest job satisfaction by enabling patients to discover and develop their own skills and creativity.


This set of jugs ranges from 3/8" to 6" high.



On-line shop
Web pages created by
Oliver Elphick