‘I found inspiration in a very unexpected way’
Julie Reilly always loved working with clay and since leaving her corporate career, she’s developed a unique style.
My first introduction to clay was during secondary school and it was love at first sight. I was fascinated at how much you do with it; from moulding beautiful sculptures, to producing functional items, its limits were endless. My mum still has the first pot I ever made; it’s three inches thick and you could probably kill someone with it!
At university, I took a year-long art course alongside my English degree and, after graduating, applied for every job that had a creative element to it. I began working as an assistant project manager for a company that designed museums, before being made redundant two years later and taking up a position with Shell in expense management.
Although I was good at the job, I missed pottery and did evening classes at Putney School of Art and Design. When I was offered a five-year work placement in Singapore, I moved there with my husband Mark.
After returning to the UK, I was eager to join a class again and signed up with a sculptural potter called Kerry Hastings. It felt good to have somewhere to go once a week to get away from the hustle and bustle of the city. That’s when Mark and I decided it was time to set up home in the country.
POTTERING ON
It took five years before we found our house in Oxfordshire on the edge of the Cotswolds, surrounded by rolling hills. By then, I was pregnant with our son Josh (now seven), and Mark was earning good money as a technology investor, so I left my job at Shell to see if I could make a business out of pottery.
I saved up my maternity money to buy an electric kiln and turned our garage into a studio. My neighbour, who used to do pottery herself, kindly offered me her old potting wheel. I eagerly accepted, thinking it would be a small electric wheel. Instead, she turned up with a trailer and inside was a massive kick wheel that you power using your foot. Nevertheless, I was very grateful, and spent hours mastering how to use it.
Originally, I made tall, thin vases imprinted with lace from my wedding dress. I discovered that lots of potters were selling via Instagram, so I set up an account with a link through to my website. Sales were steady – and they really took off after I found inspiration in a very unexpected way. On a camping trip to the Dordogne when Josh was three, I accidentally locked the car keys in the boot of our Land Rover and we had to spend a week there waiting for a spare set to arrive from home. There was a wild flower meadow outside our cabin, and we spent the days gazing at all the different grasses and flowers. It made me think there had to be a way of printing with botanicals. When I got home, the first plate I printed was plain grass in a browny glaze and I developed it from there.
There aren’t many people in the world printing botanicals into clay and this has made a huge difference to my success. Now I have waiting lists for my work.
Two years ago, my daughter Emily was born, and I now work two days a week. I’ve found the most important thing is to have fun and be enthusiastic about what you do. If you have that, it will always shine through in your work.
juliereilly.com