New unique ceramics

April was a fab month with lots of getting my hands dirty and getting stuck into all my favourite things!

I knew May was going to be hectic with lots of other exciting stuff so I really wanted to make the most of the studio and get cracking.

I love my intricate pieces, the tiny details is what I really want to get right, each little dot, line and detail are all taken from the research I do into natural forms. I like to explore nature in depth and really find those hidden details, I then replicate them in clay in my pieces.

At university a tutor encouraged me to make my nature inspired pieces in pinks and purples and I just hated it, they looked all wrong! With my colours themes I like to replicate the natural world in both the colour and the details within. This green vase (below) has a lovely soft satin finish to it and it has blushes of rusty browns and speckles throughout the surface.

The intricate bowl (below) I adorned with a rich amber orange glossy glaze with a high gloss finish with crackles where it pools, I selected this out of my handmade glaze recipe selection as I wanted the carvings to capture the glaze creating deeper darker pools to accentuate the fluidity in the carvings.

I was super pleased with this one!

You can find my new pieces in my online shop!

I ship worldwide :)

Intricate series #6, glazed white stoneware, by Katherine Fortnum 2019

I let my creative side run wild and started to explore really fine intricate detailing (as I have been slowly getting back to this year), but I've wanted to push myself to a new level with my making. I have always worked on a pretty small scale with my ceramics, not just with my sculptures but with anything functional too. Large scale had just never occurred to me so I thought I'd push myself and give it a go... it was well worth it!

This piece is the largest thing I've ever made, its about 40cm x 40cm.

I wanted to bring my delicate pieces to life but as I just mentioned they are extremely delicate, only about half of the sculptures I make actually make it through the whole ceramics process! From actually making them, then drying, the next stage is one with the most casualties... picking up the bone dry extremely fragile pieces and putting them in the kiln for their first firing. After bisquing them they are definitely easier to handle but still delicate, glazing them and wiping back is the next big hurdle in not accidentally breaking them. Once they have come out of their final glaze firing they are strong and durable ceramic forms but with the delicate spikes etc they are still extremely susceptible to breakages when handling.

It's a sad truth and it can be heartbreaking but it's the process I love to work in and I am delighted with the finished outcome of my sculptures as they're exactly as I imagined them when I start designing.

This first piece is a new chapter in my sculptures and one that I'm so excited to explore!

New large intricate series sculpture, greenware stage, white stoneware, by Katherine Fortnum 2019

I've been working on a special commission, I've got the size and design exactly how I want them but I've got to create the perfect shade of blue and yellow to match my customers requirements, this means A LOT of colour testing! ...I got the yellow but I didn't even find the shade of blue I needed in all of those! Back to the testing board.

I've just unloaded the kiln and had some brand new studs come out ready to be made into earrings, there’s some gorgeous colours, I’m so pleased! 💜

I’ve made 8 new colours, including 5 different very dark shades as everyone keeps asking for them 💜

After the process of making my ceramics I have to complete them, making them into actual items, in this case attaching the sterling silver findings onto the ceramic gems to make earrings. Here's the finished products!

You can find these and the rest of the full range of my unique sterling silver ceramic earrings in my online shop.