Business: Charlotte Storrs Stoneware
Based: Abingdon
Website: www.charlottestorrs-stoneware.co.uk
I set up my pottery business when my youngest son went to university ten years ago. I make functional stoneware; all my work is wheel thrown. Setting up the pottery involved a steep learning curve from making to marketing and selling. I work from the pottery in our garden. I have sold in the UK through Liberty’s and Fortnum & Mason, in Europe and the States. Now I sell online, from the pottery, and through galleries and shops.
I wanted to start making large bowls, including countertop basins and large vases but I had a problem glazing them. Glazing is traditionally done by dipping biscuit ware (once fired) in a bucket of glaze, using tongs or holding the piece between thumb and index finger. The pots I wanted to make were too large to hold with tongs or by hand. My engineering husband came up with a vacuum glazing system.
The system radically simplifies the task of glazing pots. It consists of a vacuum pump, an air cylinder with a vacuum gauge, a valve to admit air when required, and a vacuum jig with foam rubber seals. The pot is attached to the jig by opening the valve to connect to the vacuum tank. The pot can then be placed in the glaze bucket, removed, turned upside down and drained, without directly touching it. It is then returned to the table and the valve closed to release the vacuum.
Charlotte Storrs is designer and maker at Charlotte Storrs Stoneware.
