Oxford Clay

Designing for the environment is a way of creating products where the minimum possible negative environmental impact on the environment is intrinsic to their design.  In design for the environment, a product is thought of holistically, from the raw materials used to make it to its manufacturing process.  Potters have a huge opportunity to design for the environment because we have direct...

Clay can be infinitely recycled before it’s fired! This process is called ‘reclaiming’ and it involves turning clay that is either too dry or too wet, back into a usable state.  In this episode, we talk about how to reclaim your own clay without any specialist equipment, in four very simple steps.  *Scooping sloppy wet clay out of the reclaiming bucket onto a tea towel, inside away from...

I read a really interesting book recently on regenerative fashion and it really got me thinking about whether any of the concepts could be applied to the handmade pottery industry. In this episode, I explore author Safia Minney’s ideas in the book Regenerative Fashion: A Nature-based Approach to Fibres, Livelihoods and Leadership and think about ways we could use them as Potters.  The ideas f...

Wishing you all a very Happy New Year! ⭐In this episode, I tell you about my four New Year’s resolutions in pottery.   *Talking to myself kindly about my pottery, especially when things go wrong - an inevitable part of the pottery-making process! Creating a kind, safe space in my own thoughts to make mistakes. *Prioritise experimentation and playing in pottery. *Creating a joy list of t...

Every person creating in clay is totally unique and therefore has a totally unique creative style in pottery! In this episode, I talk about the ways you can cultivate your own unique creative style in pottery, such as;  *The importance of following your curiosity and joy in pottery.   *How practising pottery techniques reduces the gap between what you want to make and what you can a...

Refiring is firing pottery again after it has already been glaze-fired once. But why on earth would a Potter want to do that?! In this episode we discuss what refiring is, and some reasons why a Potter may want to fire their work again.  Potters may re-fire their work for example if their pot has been underfired in the first firing, which can sometimes happen if the kiln switches off accident...

I learned the concept of a ‘Second Brain’ from the book: ‘Building a Second Brain: A Proven Method to Organise Your Digital Life and Unlock Your Creative Potential’ by Tiago Forte. In this episode, I talk about what a second brain is, and why it’s so amazing for anyone with creative ideas (ie everyone!).  I explain four reasons why having a second brain is particularly useful for Pottery make...

Making your own casting slip can save money and be more environmentally friendly. CO2 is saved from transporting powdered ingredients rather than the water present in ready-made casting slips. In addition, Potters can control exactly what ingredients they are using, sourcing ones mined in areas of high regulation. Making casting slip is also really fun, especially when you see the magic of how a d...

Having a perfectly flat base or rim on a pot adds a professional feel to handmade pottery. In this episode, I tell you about an amazingly simple and easy technique to create perfectly flat bases or rims on your pottery. After having read about this pottery technique in a book, it is now something I use on every one of my pots! Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube ✨Support the Podcas...

Disappointment in pottery can happen when the pot in your mind's eye isn’t the same as the one that comes out of the kiln! That sinking feeling of disappointment can really hold us back as potters and can affect even the most experienced of Potters.  In this episode, I talk about three mindset shifts that I use to deal with my own feelings of disappointment in pottery;  1. That disappoin...

It's Autumn here in the UK and the leaves on the trees are starting to fall! But did you know that you can actually make a pottery glaze from fallen leaves?!  Whilst wood ash is often quoted in glaze recipes, leaf ash can actually be used instead. In fact it is often the leaves of plants which have fallen naturally at the end of their growing cycle which create the most beautiful pottery glaz...

It's Autumn here in the UK and the leaves on the trees are starting to fall! But did you know that you can actually make a pottery glaze from fallen leaves?!  Whilst wood ash is often quoted in glaze recipes, leaf ash can actually be used instead. In fact it is often the leaves of plants which have fallen naturally at the end of their growing cycle which create the most beautiful pottery glaz...

Clay shrinks at every stage of the pottery-making process. This can make creating the right size of pot quite tricky! Another confusing thing is that different clays shrink by differing amounts up to around 25 per cent, from wet clay to finished pot.  Join me for this episode, where I talk about a simple way to find out how much your specific type of clay will shrink by. I talk you through ho...

Because the process of making pottery is so prone to technical ‘failures’ it can often feel like you're constantly doing pottery ‘wrong’!  In this episode, we explore how giving yourself permission to get things ‘wrong’ in pottery as you learn and grow in your pottery-making skills and experience, opens up infinite creative opportunities for your work.  I share some things I’ve changed i...

Colour in pottery is usually created with commercial metal oxides available as a raw material or as an ingredient in stains. In a special bonus episode of this podcast series to celebrate the release of the book ‘Eco-conscious Pottery Colour : A guide to colouring ceramics with scrap metals, glass, plant ash and clay ’,  we explore some things I've used in pottery to try to create colour that...

Colour in pottery is usually created with commercial metal oxides available as a raw material or as an ingredient in stains. In the fifth of this special five-part podcast series to celebrate the release of the book ‘Eco-conscious Pottery Colour: A guide to colouring ceramics with scrap metals, glass, plant ash and clay ’,  we explore how to create beautiful colours in pottery, using metal-ri...

Colour in pottery is usually created with commercial metal oxides available as a raw material or as an ingredient in stains. In the fourth of this special five-part podcast series to celebrate the release of the book ‘Eco-conscious Pottery Colour: A guide to colouring ceramics with scrap metals, glass, plant ash and clay ’,  we explore how to create beautiful colours in pottery, using the ash...

Colour in pottery is usually created with commercial metal oxides available as a raw material or as an ingredient in stains. In the third of this special five-part podcast series to celebrate the release of the book ‘Eco-conscious Pottery Colour: A guide to colouring ceramics with scrap metals, glass, plant ash and clay ’,  we explore how to create beautiful decorative colours in pottery, usi...

Colour in pottery is usually created with commercial metal oxides available as a raw material or as an ingredient in stains. In the second of this five-part podcast series to celebrate the release of the book ‘Eco-conscious Pottery Colour: A guide to colouring ceramics with scrap metals, glass, plant ash and clay ’,  we explore how to create beautiful glaze colours in pottery, using scrap cop...

Colour in pottery is usually created with commercial metal oxides available as a raw material or as an ingredient in stains. In the first of this five-part podcast series to celebrate the release of the book ‘Eco-conscious Pottery Colour: A guide to colouring ceramics with scrap metals, glass, plant ash and clay ’,  we explore what Eco-conscious pottery colour is and why it’s great for Potter...

So many pottery projects involve joining clay together and it’s not unusual for clay to crack apart after it's been joined.  Join me for this episode where I talk about my 5 simple steps for joining clay together to stop clay from cracking apart!  *Join clay that is the same level of dryness, you can encourage this by keeping clay in a damp box.  *Use vinegar to ‘melt’ the joining s...

Thank you for your listener questions! This is the first listener question episode, and we're talking about about crazing and pinholing in pottery glazes. The listener questions in this episode are: Is it a defect of the glaze to have pinholes or hairline cracks after firing? Are these fired glazes permeable and will food residues settle in them over time, especially if you only wash them by hand?...

Experimenting with making pottery glazes is one of my absolute favourite things to do. In this episode, I tell you how I make my glaze tests at Oxford Clay, and how you can do the same! Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube ✨Support the Podcast ------------------------------- Resources for Potters: ⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon Free Pottery Guides: 🆓 Download the...

In this episode, I talk about 5 simple things you can do to recycle resources in pottery! The 5 things I talk about today are: *Collecting Rainwater to use in pottery *Reclaiming used clay back into new clay *Turning scrap metal into colouring oxides *Making pottery glazes from plant ashes *Using glass in pottery to add colour and decorative detail Watch the video version of this episode on YouTub...

Watch the video version of this episode on YouTube ✨Support the Podcast ------------------------------- Resources for Potters: ⭐ Pottery Paperback Books available from Amazon Free Pottery Guides: 🆓 Download the Free How to Make a Pottery Glaze Workbook (suitable for beginners): 🆓 Download the Free How to programme an Electric Kiln for bisque and stoneware glaze firings (includes full kiln firi...