ONE TO WATCH
Designer and maker Rachael Cocker on her floral ceramics
QHow did you begin your career in design? While studying illustration at Edinburgh College of Art, I started experimenting with clay at a ‘paint-your-own-pottery’ cafe. After graduating, I got a job as an Artist in Residence at a school where I was able to use the facilities and work with the technicians. This is where I properly explored my love for the medium and made my first collection.
“I HAVE A MAGPIE-LIKE APPROACH TO RESEARCH AND LIKE TO GATHER AND COLLECT IMAGERY FROM A HUGE RANGE OF SOURCES”
Q
Where do you find inspiration? I have a magpie-like approach to research and like to gather and collect imagery from a huge range of sources, as well as snapping photos of things I see out and about. The natural world is the main subject of my designs and I spend a lot of time drawing flowers and plants from life.
QWhat techniques do you use to create your pieces?
I always begin projects with lots of drawings and paintings on paper – mainly in gouache, coloured pencils and oil pastels. I like children’s art materials for their bright shades and thick, graphic quality. My ceramics are mostly hand-built using moulds, then decorated with slips (liquid clay) metal oxides and stains.
QHow has your work evolved? I have always loved drawing, knitting, printing, ceramics, pattern design and everything in between, so for a while my work didn’t have a clear focus. I challenged myself to make a collection of prints and ceramics with a blue floral pattern. This limitation gave me a space to establish my creative language and set a foundation to build upon.
QTell us about your studio.
I’d been searching for a studio for months before I stumbled across it. It’s the attic of a 17th-century merchant’s house in the seaside town of Great Yarmouth and it’s one of my favourite places to be.
QWhat’s been the best project you’ve worked on so far? Creating my Flora in an Old Garden collection, which was stocked at
Liberty as part of its Floribunda pop-up. This was the first work I made in my new studio space and it felt so exciting and wonderful. Q
Any advice for aspiring designers and makers? Create things that you genuinely love and that bring you joy. I think other people pick up on this.
QWhat’s in the pipeline for you this year?
I’m really excited to be launching a collection of stationery with Papier this spring. I’m a complete stationery addict so I was thrilled to get to work on this project. I am also in the initial developing stage of some new ceramic designs.