I’ve been making the Willow Veg Collection for nearly two years now. As the decoration has developed, I thought the form of the pieces needed developing too. A complex design needs a strong form as it can take a couple of hours to do the decoration (The tomatoes took 6.5 hours) and I felt the shape of the piece should reflect that in some way.
Since the blue and white patterns come from the old potteries, I thought the form should be inspired by them too. After a bit of research and googling, I found a Spode vase I liked. It’s simple yet sophisticated and timeless.
The first batch I made, I played with the proportions – tall and narrow; shorter and wider with a longer neck (I didn’t like that one as much). As the decoration of each one is unique, the forms will be too. For each batch I weigh out the same amount of clay so they are related to each other but that’s where the similarities end. The exact proportions and details are decided when I’m throwing them on the wheel.
With each batch, the little details become more refined. You’ll now find the type of vegetable written on the bottom. So far I have been doing this by inlay, the next ones will be done using sgraffito.
I really like where they are going.