Autumn 2025

I don’t want to start every newsletter saying ‘I can’t believe it’s this time already’...but this year really is going fast. Spring quietly transitioned to Summer, which ticked along steadily before being well and truly bombarded by Autumn. 

Previously, I thought Winter was the primary season for slowing down and reflecting, but recently I read an article that talked about Summer also being a time of rest. It feels like the longer days and warmer weather shifts our priorities away from productivity and work, and towards spending time with friends and family, and pursuing hobbies that we’ve put aside thus far in the year. When Autumn arrives it’s a time to re-assess what our goals are for the remaining months of the year, and get our heads down. 

This feels very relevant to me, as during August I decided that I was going to give up my community pottery studio at the end of the year. In June 2024 I took over the running of a small studio from a friend, and since then have been primarily teaching workshops and offering studio use to local community members. During this time I have learned so much about running a pottery studio, and it has really solidified my feeling that ceramics is the career I want to pursue. That being said, it definitely feels like the right time to move on. Primarily, it comes down to a matter of time. I currently work three days a week at another pottery studio, which is my main source of income, leaving either two or three days (if I work during the weekend) to run my studio. While initially this was feasible, the bottom line is that two days doesn’t feel like enough time to run a fully functioning pottery studio. As a result, it’s hard to stay on top of things, and I haven't pursued my own making recently. Secondly, I don’t want to gloss over the fact that running a community pottery studio is certainly not a money-maker, and at this point in my life I need to prioritise financial stability. 

While I am sad to be leaving the space and feel so lucky to have had the opportunity to run a studio so early on in my career, I feel certain that this is the right decision, and also proud of myself for making this choice even though it means letting go of something I really love. I think the bottom line is that there is a limited number or hours in the day, and you simply cannot do everything. As much as I wanted to offer affordable community pottery, make my own work, teach at Loam, and work on the Argil Counties projects, all these things were not simultaneously achievable. And by going down one path we have to accept the loss of another alternative. This being said, change can also be very exciting and I’m looking forward to the next chapter. So, as Summer was for pondering over these changes, moving into Autumn I’m knuckling down and beginning to wrap things up at my studio.

In other news I have also transitioned the way that I show my work recently, in that I’ve finally stepped away from Instagram. I decided that it was ultimately just a huge time sink, and didn’t feel like a constructive or meaningful place to put my effort into. I had really tried to make it work for me by limiting my time on it and only using the app on specific days, but in the end felt like my personal values of slowing down and making considered work simply could not co-exist with an app that primarily promotes things that are new, and scandalous, and controversial. Instead I have been experimenting with writing on Substack, and although I don’t fully know if this is 100% the right place to talk about ceramics, I’m enjoying writing about my work and giving it a go. 

One of the things I’ve been writing about on Substack is the full set of café crockery I am currently making for the Karuna Coffee House, which is below my studio. I’m making 45 latte mugs, 25 flat white mugs, 10 cortado cups, 10 espresso cups, 45 big saucers, and 10 small saucers. It’s by far the biggest project I’ve undertaken so far, and has really pushed my making skills forward. Due to the specific ML capacity each drink requires, it has been a real challenge to calculate the dimensions that the mugs need to be, taking into account shrinkage. All the crockery needs to be robust enough to withstand multiple use daily, the ware and tare of a busy café environment, and also regular dishwasher cycles. All in all this has meant that my aesthetic values of refined pots, thin rims etc have had to take a back seat to functionality, which has been an interesting lesson to learn.

Lastly, I wanted to mention the Loam Open Studio that took place in August alongside the wider Hampshire Open Studios event. It was my first time selling work at a market/fair type event, and it was very interesting to see what work people enjoyed and gravitated towards. After making a few mugs and small bud vases which I thought would be most popular due to their cheaper price point, it was interesting to see that very few of these sold and instead more of my large vases were bought. All in all, my favourite part was seeing how many people enjoyed seeing the studio and all the teachers & students work, and being able to chat to lots people about pottery! While I don’t have any immediate plans to take part in another ceramics fair, it’s definitely something I’d consider in the future.

I think that’s about all there is to update on at the moment; I’m hoping that by stepping away from running my studio I am left with space that new projects will grow into. 

Thank you for taking the time to read this, and catch you next time. 

Honor x