Where it all began...
Jeanette has always been creative since a child dabbling in various mediums, but she’d never had the opportunity to try pottery despite being on her bucket list. In 2021, on Jeanette's birthday, her hubby completely surprised her with a potters wheel, also her best friend gifted her a ‘Pottery taster session’ with a local talented potter! She was soon hooked, totally and utterly addicted!
Jeanette's journey with clay started in 2021 with a challenging year of covid lockdown and restrictions. Only able to attend 6 beginner lessons on the wheel the rest has been self-taught with YouTube and Instagram. Her exploration with clay has been an amazing tonic after a long day at the office, due to the therapeutic calm and complete diversion it provides her.
Jeanette's home studio is 100% her happy place which allows her to immerse her mind and energy into creating pieces made with so much love. Her passion and enthusiasm for pottery are infectious and it's clear to see how much happiness it brings her.
Jeanette has a hunger to learn, develop and grow, with the benefit of many transferable skills from her career path to date she had no idea how useful they would be in her pottery. Her organisation, procedures, and workflows have come into their own, which is evident in her home studio, testing, and processes.
Interested to see behind the scenes? why not check out the ‘Studio Tour’ playlist.
The making process
Jeanette’s pottery is mainly wheel thrown but she recently started to explore hand-building techniques.
After drying for a day each piece is trimmed carefully by hand on her wheel, handles made using a handheld extruder from a block of clay with finishing touches, all by hand. After many days of slow drying under plastic to avoid cracking and warping the pieces are biscuit fired.
The glazing process requires multiple layers of brush on glazes in various combinations with the final glaze firing of her stoneware to a temperature of 1200C. As this is a hobby for Jeanette in evenings and weekends each piece usually takes 4 weeks from start to finish to produce. Definitely a labour of love.
Jeanette makes her pottery purely for enjoyment, a therapeutic outlet and to make gifts for loved ones. Since retiring from her full-time career in 2024, Jeanette has embraced the opportunity to dedicate more time to her passion for pottery, honing her skills and exploring the creative possibilities of working with clay. The process of creating pottery brings Jeanette a sense of fulfilment and satisfaction, as she pours her heart and soul into each unique piece. She has a connection with every creation and struggles to say goodbye to them when they go to their forever homes.
Each piece has memories and her heart poured into it.
It’s fair to say it has taken much persuasion and encouragement from family and friends to encourage her to offer her pottery to a wider audience and launch an online store.
Pottery is my therapy, my happy place. When I'm working with clay i can let go of all my worries and just be present in the moment. The process of creating something with my hands is incredibly rewarding, and seeing the finished product is a joy that never fades. Pottery brings me a sense of peace and calm that i can't find anywhere else.