UK Clay Users: January 2012

Lets talk about you.
I am Susan Sharpe, and I love clay.

First I learned to knit and sew and embroider when I was little, my Mother did all those things, and I was always well dressed in her latest work.

Creating things with my hands was something that I always did, and carried on with my family. I knitted and sewed for them for 17 years, and was a full time Mother until I went onto a foundation course where the course work took over.

Tell us about your first experience with clay.
The first piece of work I made in clay was a slip cast model of my feet. I admit to doing very little, the technician did most of the work. He made the plaster cast model of my feet, showed me how to fill the dried cast with liquid clay - slip - and then how to glaze and fire the work.

I could not believe the result, it was amazing how this liquid clay could become such an intricate model, you can even see the wrinkles of my skin through the glaze. And the glaze was wonderful, bronzy green and brown with flashes of dark blue.

The love affair with clay and glazed began.

What triggered your interest in clay?
Over the next two years I had a ceramic teacher called Catrin Mostyn Jones, and she had recently finished a degree course at Manchester Metropolitan University. I had no intention of going to university but she told me that the Three Dimensional Design course is just what I would love doing. She tailored my ceramic work and designs to get onto the course, which I did, being offered a place in April of 2002.

Due to the illness and death of my Mother the degree took me 4 years instead of the usual 3, but I loved it. I had my head turned by glass I must admit it was an amazing media to work in, but I still loved clay.

I was tutored by the most wonderful man and lover of clay, Alex McErlain. He is now retired but still retains such enthusiasm and joy over items that have been hand made, especially clay, and is still one of the best throwers I’ve ever seen.

I had the opportunity to work for a week with Jack Doherty while I was at university. Jack works solely in porcelain and soda fires all his work, I was smitten, though as I am living on a housing estate I have had to forgo the soda firing, as acidic gasses are produced during firing.

The week work experience only intensified my love of porcelain and what I wanted my future career to be, to work with clay and to be my own boss.

During my time at Manchester I developed a colour pallet of glazes, Celadon, and pale blue with vibrant Peach Bloom Red at the other end of the spectrum. All oriental in feel.

I got my BA (Hons) in Three Dimensional Design in 2006 and went back to mainly being a full time Wife and Mother, and then Grandmother.

Pick 3 words to describe yourself.
Loving, Creative, Cataholic.

Who is your favourite artist and why?
One of my favourite potters is Matthew Blakely with wonderful Celadon glazes, and vibrant reds, the marks he makes in the porcelain, the transparency of the glazes.

Tell us about your shop.
I opened my shop just after my first firing in my kiln at home on 18th October 2011. Susan Sharpe Ceramics, it just seemed to sum up what I did in plain terms and yet it gives me the breadth of making lots of different items in clay.

It had been a long journey from my first taste of clay back in 2000, and it had been my hearts desire to work from home and be able to just walk out of the back door, into the studio and surround myself with clay.

I adore what I make and it is still amazing when the kiln door opens, I have favourites in every firing and it’s still about the whiteness and softness of the porcelain and the vibrance of the Peach Bloom Red, and the tiny bubbles that you often get in Celadon glazes where they are thicker.

In 2010 I had the opportunity to get a gas fired kiln, and a posh shed to work in, and most of that year was taken with getting getting everything ready for me to work from home. I make in the shed, but fire work in the garage.

Unfortunately I was taken ill at during the autumn and eventually had an operation in May 2011. I could not throw pots as I had thought I would do because of the operation, so started to work on small items, buttons and brooches. The men of the family would prepare the clay for me and I just then had to roll out little balls of it to make the buttons, and I could do it sitting down.

Much to my amazement people seemed to like the small items, even before they were fired.

Tell us about the inspirations for your creations.
The porcelain and the glazes have to be my biggest inspirations, it’s always finding ways to show off both materials to their best advantage, and to show the love I have of both of them.

What are your creative processes?
As with all ceramics the main factor is time. Drying time. You spend time drying your work slowly so it does not crack, or you spend time trying to keep it damp enough to work on it. And firings, first the bisque, then glaze and then the glaze firing.

From rolling out the first piece of clay to cut the buttons to taking them out of the kiln for the final time there must be about 6 to 8 weeks in between. I have a fairly large kiln and she will take about 1000 ‘buttons’ to fill her. If I were throwing pots it would probably be 4 to 6 weeks to fill her as you are always waiting for the clay to dry.

Choose 5 words that describe your work.
Traditional, Oriental, Original, Tactile, Intimate

Any tips or advice you'd like to share with other sellers?
Promotion is hard. It is something I’m learning about as I go.

I Facebook, and Tweet, and blog, and I am thinking of advertising on the knitting on line phenomena that is Ravelry as my work is suitable for knitters, and we do like a little unique style with our knit wear.

I have joined groups on Etsy, and keep up with the forums and encourage and promote their items as well as my own. I have found that spreading the word about other peoples products is as important as my own, it creates a community that all work together to promote each other.

I have sold work to jewellers for them to make new items from my own, and I am in collaboration with a jeweller to design a new line in jewellery at the moment, all begun though chatting and getting to know people in the same forum.

Also presentation is so important, getting a theme through the banner of your Etsy shop, the avatar, and the business cards, get the colours and the images to match, to brand you own work.

Packaging is also important, I keep it simple and use similar colours to my work, ie Green tissue paper and red jewellery boxes. Present the work as you would like to be presented with a gift.

Name 3 of your favourite shops.
Contemporary Ceramics in London.
The place to go to see the best of UK ceramics.www.cpaceramics.com/
Plenty of work to see and find new potters work.

Pearl City Yarns. The shop is full of yarn in little alcoves and the whole walls are awash with colour. I love the colours and tones of the yarn, and look at how different buttons would suit different thicknesses of yarn and the wools that they are made of. I am also an avid knitter.

Waterstones on Deansgate Manchester, I worked here briefly and loved walking round it when it was quiet before we opened. I find that words are a huge influence on me, poetry, descriptions of places, people, feelings, all weave into the pottery.

Are there any other comments you'd like to add?
Do what you love and make what you are.

www.susansharpeceramics.co.uk