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Shoreline, designing with collage

In 2019 I used collage to design a new range of ceramics  with a restrained, neutral palette inspired by watching seabirds during walks on the long, dune-flanked beaches of North Norfolk.

In 2019 I started work on a new range of shapes and designs for ECP Design. I am not a potter, so I enlisted the help of a potter I knew would immediately understand the shapes I wanted.

I wanted a glaze that resembled the putty’ish shade of old stoneware potion pots – not grey, not cream – and to include very subtle throw lines. Watching him turn the shapes on the wheel, allowing me to say ‘out a bit more’ or ‘take a little more off’ was very exciting even as I froze in his unheated studio in March. Actually, I think my favourite images are those of the freshly-thrown shapes resting on the stone bench in his studio. Of course, these were all protoypes: the production was going to happen in Poland, which is where the sample pieces shown here were created. 

I designed the seabirds using collaged remnants of antique watercolour paintings found, rolled up at the back of a dealer’s van. They were some of the worst amateur paintings ever, but treasure for collage. I could have explained but decided to let him carry on thinking that I had very bad taste in art. Until working on Shoreline, all my design work had been done with appliqué and embroidery which had been interpreted with wonderful hand-painting by Vanessa Knight and her team at English Country Pottery, run by John Collett, in England.  Shoreline was going to be transfer ware, which means painted artwork, like the beautiful paintings by the late Lizzie Sanders of my needlework for the ranges of bone china I designed with William Edwards, which I will write about in another post.

It is unfortunate  that the combination of the pandemic and Brexit halted production of my ceramics. I receive a lot of emails from  people desperate to replace pieces and am thinking of setting up a message board page on Instagram for them in case there are others who might keen to sell all or part of their collection. 

Shoreline was nonetheless one of the most enjoyable design experiences and I hope one day to work again with ceramics.

Hover over the images to read the captions, click to enlarge, or double-click for full screen.

PLEASE NOTE

Important note for US customers

As many of you might already know, the $800 de minimis threshold, which allowed international shipments with a value of up to $800 to enter the US free of tariffs or duty, will no longer apply from 29th August.

First, I want to reassure my lovely US customers that I will continue to ship embroidery kits and The Stitcher’s Journal to the US. However, to ensure that orders sent by Royal Mail are not subjected to the new flat-rate tariffs for postal service orders, and to make the necessary changes to our checkout and set up the new shipping system, we are asking US customers not to place any new orders until after 1 September.

From 1 September, all prices for US customers will be ‘fully landed’, i.e. inclusive of tariffs and duty which must now be paid before the goods enter the US. I plan to keep my prices as close to their current level as possible.

A newsletter will be going out on 1 September to explain the new arrangements. In the meantime, your support is, as ever, hugely appreciated.

With very best wishes,
Caroline