Gill Owen Ceramics
2026 – Taking part in Potfest in the Pens – Penrith Autumn
Gill relocated sixty degrees north in February 2024 and is now based in Shetland.
The sea and the textured landscapes of Shetland have been the main influence and inspiration behind Gill’s Ceramics since she began.
Gill’s focus is on making ceramics from locally sourced materials and processing the materials by hand to develop a deep connection with the materials that will make up her finished pots. Her work is hand thrown and by using the small batches of clay she produces a steady and tranquil rhythm to her making.
Through a process of research and testing using small test tile pieces she has developed glazes, foraged wild clays and natural pigments to work with. The testing has been painstakingly recorded and repeated to get the results that she will take forward in her work. There have been many unexpected and unpredicted results, some ‘total triumphs’, some disastrous but all part of the learning process.
The raw materials are foraged and collected locally, the willow ash has been sourced from master basket maker Phil Bradley to utilise his waste material and link one craft to another.
Two commercial clays are also used to provide a ‘control’ and contrast to the ‘wild’ ingredients.
The materials have then been processed by hand into clay bodies, glazes and pigments.
The work shows how the combination of these elements have been brought together in these final pieces. The pots and combinations of materials and glazes are fired under two different schedules electric kiln oxidation and gas kiln reduction to also demonstrate how the same materials can be applied in the same combinations but fired differently to give completely contrasting results.