An interview with maker The Village Pottery as part of our 'Get to Know...' series.
Tell us a little about yourself and your business…
Hi, I’m Jen and I make beautiful, functional pottery for the home. The Village Pottery has grown over the last 20 years into an established business that now offers personalised commissions, wedding lists, baby feet imprints, and bespoke tableware for Michelin star restaurants.
Where are you based?
I have a pottery studio on a farm in Easton-In-Gordano on the outskirts of Bristol.
Tell us a secret about you?
Unlike the majority or potters out there, I don’t turn my work. Turning is the process of removing excess clay from the bottom or sides of a piece with a metal tool to create a smooth, refined base. I love the marks left on the bottom of my work and believe it adds unique character and retains that handmade feel much more than turning.
How do you make your work?
I throw everything on my favourite wheel, with mostly my hands and the odd metal or wooden tool. Then each piece is dried to leather hard. I then stamp words in certain pieces or add handles. All of the bottoms of the pieces need to be smoothed with a wet sponge. They are then fired and each bottom
sanded. Next each piece needs to be glazed, this is done in 3 stages using a transparent glaze then a coloured glaze, then another dip with the transparent glaze. Finally, each piece is fired for a 2nd time and then sanded.
As you can tell, each pot goes through quite a long process!
Describe your studio…
The Village Pottery is made up of a team of 3 makers who all absolutely love clay. It’s important that collaboration is a part of what we do here, and the whole team learns, contributes & grows as we make together. For 20 years the studio has been fortunate enough to have many aspiring potters come through the doors, and it’s one of our favourite things to help other potters develop and fall more in love with pottery.
Practically, the studio is filled with all the important tools & equipment we need to produce the beautiful pots we make. We’ve got 3 wheels and 2 kilns; 1 for bisque firing all our pots and 1 for glaze firing. We need lots of space for the many processes of making pottery, so have a number of large tables for things like adding handles, stamping words, glazing and recycling clay. The walls are filled with shelves for drying pots and storing stock. As we are lucky enough to be based on a beautiful farm, in the summer we open up the double doors at the front of the studio and dry lots of work outside. The studio gets pretty cold in the winter, so we all bundle up and look forward to the days when the kilns are being fired.
Tell us about your materials - where do you source them from and are they important to you?
I source all my materials from the UK, and if I can, as locally as possible. It’s important to me that the pots I make are really strong and durable and because of this we use stoneware clay that’s fired to a high temperature so they have a long life and can be passed on throughout the years.
All our gazes are mixed up by hand (rather than buying pre-made glazes that come in lots of packaging) and all the materials needed sourced as sustainably as possible. We steer clear of rare oxides as these are often imported from overseas.
Why is it important to you that your work is made as responsibly and sustainably as possible?
Pottery is an incredibly sustainable craft to practise as all the clay we use never goes to waste. If we’ve made a pot that doesn’t quite make the cut, we can reclaim it (the process of recycling clay back to its original state) and use it again! For any pots with small imperfections that can’t be recycled because they’ve been fired, we participate in regular samples & seconds sales to sell this stock at a reduced price. We also give away any broken fired ceramics to people to use in the bottom of their plant pots. It’s really important to me that the business is as sustainable as possible so the work we do is helping and not hindering the planet!
How and why did you start your small business?
I started The Village Pottery as a studio attached to a coffee shop in Clifton Village almost 20 years ago. Customers would come in and have a moment of connection with myself and the pots I make and often want to purchase something. Back then, handmade pottery was incredibly rare, and I was really passionate about making the handmade more accessible and available to the consumer through inviting people into the process of watching me make.
Over the last 20 years, the pottery has changed a lot, but I have continued to nurture my love for hand-crafted objects and believe the story of the maker is in each piece created, giving it a soul and the ability to bring joy in their everyday use.
Any fun facts about your business, or achievements you want to shout about?
My work has been featured on Master Chef, The Great British Menu & in County Living.
What do you love most about your small business and do you have a favourite piece of work?
Throwing is my favourite thing about running my pottery business and I find it incredibly beneficial for my mental health. I could happily spend all day sitting at the wheel enjoying the meditative state of becoming still and working with my hands.
What do you think are the benefits of people supporting independent business?
I love participating in keeping the high street alive and celebrating the independent. I love to collect memories through purchasing items I feel connected with, and would be so sad if big chains took over.
What are your favourite things about PRIOR - both as a customer and a supplier?
PRIOR has such an incredible collection of curated, handmade pieces that it’s a one-stop-shop for anything you could want or need. It’s perfect for gifts and I always find something I love when I’m in there.
As a supplier, PRIOR has given my work a position on the high street where customers can come and see and feel my pieces in real life which is so important when buying ceramics. I’ve felt so supported and encouraged by all the work the team put in to help get my work out there and into the hands of customers. PRIOR isn’t just a shop, it’s a community hub where you can get advice, make friends and feel supported. This is so important when working as an independent craftsperson which can sometime feel isolating. They help be become a better maker & business owner!
Tell us about your favourite purchase from a fellow maker. What is it and who made it?
Terra Cafe in Bristol (very soon to open on Gloucester Road) was created this year by someone who started out with The Village Pottery through work experience and then an apprenticeship. Gabby fell in love with pottery and has now gone on to start her own amazing business!! They recently did a crowdfunder to raise money to open their pottery cafe and I purchased a mug which I’m in love with!!
Do you have a goal for where you’d love your business to be in the future?
My dream for the pottery is that I could share it with someone passionate about the craft who wants to partner with me to help the business thrive but also take on some of the responsibilities of running a small business. My priorities and responsibilities now are very different to what they were 20 years ago, and I believe that having a work/life balance is so important. I’d love to be able to share this beautiful business I’ve built with someone else who can help carry the load and make the pottery their own.
View The Village Pottery's handmade collection at Prior Shop here.
