2025 – Taking part in Potfest by the Lake – Compton Verney

I create mainly functional ceramics, that are tactile and visually pleasing, using a mix of hand built, press mold and thrown techniques. Lines and text, often snippets of thoughts or poetry written during my travels, are inscribed into the surfaces and slips applied. I believe you get more pleasure whilst eating and drinking from handmade vessels and I try to meld function and art into each piece.

After graduating from Derby University with a BA in Applied Arts, I was selected to take part in IWCAT 2000, an international workshop in Tokoname, Japan and subsequently invited back two years later, to make work for an international group exhibition.

Japan had a huge effect on me and my approach to ceramics. Through staying with a host family I saw at meal times, each dish complimenting the food it contained. Conscious thought had gone into the placing of foods and the choice of ceramics used. I liked the idea that I wasn’t simply eating to sustain my body, I was feeding my eyes and my mind at the same time.

Before setting up my own studio here in Wetwang, East Yorkshire, 17 years ago, I have worked as an assistant to Rob Bibby at Woodnewton Pottery as well as with salt glazer Christine Pedley in La Borne, France.

Michelle Freemantle