Made in Britain
Ceramicist Laura Lane’s ethically produced contemporary pieces are both fun and functional, referencing the land and legends of Cornwall with wit and sincerity
We visit ceramicist Laura Lane at her Cornish studio, where she creates fun yet functional pottery
Mines and mermaids; harbours and hares – Laura Lane’s ceramics depict local folklore, legend and tradition, expressed with simplicity and a wry sense of humour. There are stripes, dots and flowers, as well as seagulls and seedlings, cows and cats, whales and farmhouses, too. ‘I’m always looking for contemporary folklore,’ Laura says. ‘A modern take on things that have been passed through generations. I want to keep it fun and light-hearted – folklore is about the everyday, and everyone being able to understand and be part of something.’
Laura is connected with the historic Cornish landscape in a more intrinsic way than most: she lives with her husband Steve and children Daisy, Felix and Monty on an eight-acre organic smallholding near Liskeard, together with three dogs, two horses, two pigs, a small flock of Hebridean sheep and numerous chickens. They grow what they can, heat their home with wood managed and coppiced on their land, do their best to buy secondhand, and are working to transition from engines to working the land only with horses.
The idea of sustainability, fair trade and keeping things local apply just as much to her working life, too. ‘My stoneware clay comes from an ancient clay pit on the headland in St Agnes, and I can smell the sea air in it; it’s really lovely to work with. Some of my key glaze ingredients are china clay and tin, which played such a vital role in Cornwall’s mining history,’ she explains.
Laura’s path to a career in ceramics was not a traditional one. Despite growing up always drawing, painting and making things, knowing that she would one day end up doing something creative, she followed her environmental interests after leaving school, and worked with an organic farm near where she grew up, then established a market garden with Steve. ‘I got into art college but decided not to go,’ she says.
Several years later, however, and with three children under five, she decided that she needed something more. ‘One Christmas I gave Steve a cookbook and an apron and told him I was going to university,’ she says. ‘Initially I wanted to do furniture making, which made sense as we have timber on the smallholding, but then I went into the ceramics department and never left.’ After an
access to art course, Laura did a BA and then an MA in 3D Design at Plymouth University, starting to build up her new business at the same time. When she graduated in 2014, she had orders to fulfil, and had already won an award from the prestigious Craft Festival Bovey Tracey.
Not long afterwards, however, disaster struck in the form of a fire in Laura’s studio – a tin-roofed barn on the smallholding – destroying all her work, materials, tools and equipment. ‘It felt like rock bottom,’ she says, ‘but then it turned into a really amazing thing. The Cornish creative community is really close, and everyone rallied round and raised money to help me set up again. It was a silver lining to what was a very dark cloud.’
Not wanting to lose momentum with her new business, Laura continued working, even winning another award, this time from the Devon Guild of Craftsmen, while also sourcing materials – all secondhand and reclaimed – for a new studio that she and Steve were eventually able to design and build themselves.
Laura’s new custom-built, timber-framed space doubles as an informal studio shop, with three kilns powered by ‘green’ electricity and windows carefully placed to frame the views of rolling Cornish countryside. Here she throws each of her pieces and paints them with a dark slip before bisque-firing and decorating them either with brushwork or using a freehand sgraffito technique – in which Laura incises her designs through the slip to reveal the paler clay below. Then the work is dipped in a white tin glaze before a final firing.
It is a time-consuming method, but it does mean that each piece is unique. ‘The layers and brush marks represent the idea of storytelling being passed down through the generations,’ Laura explains. ‘Some parts are brushed over and lost
while other marks are clearly there for us all to see. The slate or blue colour is a reminder of the Cornish moors, skies and sea, and the tin glaze gives each piece a lived-in, well-loved feel, like a denim or linen top, which I really like. Among my favourite pieces to make are my little stem vases, for which I love to pick flowers from the garden or hedgerows.’
While much of Laura’s work is based around classic blue and white, she is evolving towards including more colour. ‘I’m very much inspired by location, and this year I’ve gone into a kind of lockdown with my work, exploring the very local area of our farm, our wildlife meadow, and our shepherd’s hut. It’s telling tiny stories based on our life, our land and our home,’ she explains.
‘I really like working with a restrictive palette, but I’m also loving playing with colour, and I don’t ever want to become static in what I do. So I’m gradually developing a range based on some “Wildflower Meadow” butter dishes I made, and will maybe add some mugs and vases as I go along.’
As well as selling through galleries and her own website and shop, Laura exhibits at craft fairs locally and nationally. She teaches ceramics short courses at Plymouth College of Art, and runs ‘Clay Club’, weekly workshops in her studio that take place at certain times of the year.
What’s next? As well as hoping to inspire more people to think more local, organic and ethical, Laura wants to continue enjoying her work and challenging herself. ‘Every process is different and it’s always exciting,’ she says.
‘Each time you open the kiln it’s a thrill – and sometimes a bit heart-breaking, if something has broken or not turned out right. It can be a roller coaster of emotions, but I really like the process of making and using my hands. I’m constantly trying to improve. Every time I throw something I want to get better than the last time I did it.’
To see more of Laura’s work or find out about her Clay Club workshops visit lauralane.co.uk