Business: Charlotte Storrs Stoneware
Based: Abingdon
Website: www.charlottestorrs-stoneware.co.uk
I set up my pottery business when our youngest son went to university ten years ago. I make functional stoneware – all my work is wheel thrown. I work from the pottery in our garden.
Setting up the pottery involved a steep learning curve across areas from making to marketing and selling. I have sold in the UK through Liberty and in Europe and the US through Fortnum & Mason. Now I sell from the pottery [workshop], online and through galleries and shops.
I wanted to start making large bowls, including counter top basins and large vases, but 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, so my engineer 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. Job done!
Charlotte Storrs is the designer/maker at Charlotte Storrs Stoneware
