Charlotte is a ceramicist from the Yorkshire Dales and works from her home near Masham.  She makes hand built ceramics using porcelain & stoneware clays, to create both functional and decorative items. She uses slab building and slip casting methods, before glazing and applying textures and patterns to her work by hand. These time-consuming methods mean that every single piece of Charlotte's work is unique. The inspiration for her work comes from items she collects, nature & the surrounding landscape. She transfers what she sees and collects into imagery & pattern to decorate her ceramics.

MG: When and how does your working day start?
CM: I’m not a morning person but I always push myself to be in the studio around 9. I certainly prefer working in the afternoon and evening. I must always start the day with a good cuppa tea or two. ​ 

We are back this month with a bonus edition of 'What This Artist Does All Day' to shine a spotlight on another fantastic artist from our current A Particular Place exhibition, which runs until September 8th. This time we step into the daily world of Pam Grimmond, a North Yorkshire based printmaker whose intricate linocuts draw on the quiet details of everyday life - birds, buildings and the landscapes she walks through daily.




MG: When does your working day start and end?
PG: My first thought when I saw this question is that it’s not a 9 – 5 job! Then I remembered a quote I’d seen recently about being an artist is part of your identity, rather than simply your profession, and I thought, Yes, it’s who I am as much as what I do! So, in a way, what I’m trying to do is to define my working day. I’m thinking about my work all the time but the nitty gritty bit comes when I’m actually sitting at my desk upstairs in my studio, drawing or cutting a block ready for printing, or else downstairs at my printing press, actually printing!

MG: What is your favourite kind of day as an artist?
PG: I love printing. This takes some working up to: first I have to have the blocks ready to go, then there’s choosing and cutting the paper/s. I then prepare the press, ie. getting the registration ready, and finally, choosing and rolling out the different colours and so on, until the fabulous moment of removing the paper from the block to see what is there. Then there’s a whole new set of problems to think through! I’m totally working in the moment when I’m doing all this The mind can go off on a tangent of its own, planning and plotting other avenues to explore.

MG: How does the place you work influence you if at all?
PG: I’m lucky enough to have an old one up, one down outbuilding in our garden which I use as my studio. It’s also a utility room and there’s a bed settee upstairs, where my sister sleeps when she comes to stay in August. I love the peaceful atmosphere of my studio but especially in the Summer months when it’s warm and doesn’t actually need heating. Downstairs it’s always cool, except on the hottest days, but the double doors open onto the garden so I’m glancing out and seeing the flowers and hearing the birds. Obviously in Winter it can be quite difficult because the lino is hard and the ink takes quite a lot of rolling out. No one bothers me here as there’s a ladder to climb so people aren’t passing through. I like to have it quiet but sometimes I’ll have the radio on.

MG: Who are your biggest artistic influences?
PG: I used to pore through books on Edward Bawden as his linocuts are so well thought out and there is so much to learn. Also, contemporary printmakers such as Mark Hearld, Emily Sutton and Angie Lewin. As my work has progressed and changed I’ve enjoyed looking at the work of Mary Feddon, Jo Self, Gary Hume, Ellsworth Kelly and many, many others. At the moment, as my plant studies evolve I’ve been looking at the macro photography of Karl Blossfeldt and am feeling really inspired.

​MG: How do you define success as an artist?
​PG: This is a tricky one and it would be easy to say that success is defined by whether your work sells or not, whether it is popular. It’s hard to let go of that and sometimes it can feel like a lonely road, breaking out and trying new ideas, following new threads. My M.A. in 2018 really helped with this and in many ways, it taught me how to work by keeping an open mind and moving on, always being curious.

MG: Thank you so much for sharing your daily work life with us Michael.

​Do check out Michael's work in our latest A Particular Place exhibition.

MG: Does your daily rhythm change with the seasons?
JB: I have a large studio space at the back of my house but it's incredibly cold and draughty in winter so I need to speed up and take more tea breaks. In summer I have the door open to the garden where I can see only greenery and trees and hear a wide range of birdsong too.

MG: What couldn’t you live without in your studio?
JB: I have a large tray of tools to choose from including some very old and vintage hammers, tin snips and bradawls, but my most essential item is the 10 year old dremmel with its selection of tiny drill bits to make holes in just about anything! 
Bark, wood, slate, shells...
I am also hopeless without the radio and a regular dose of Radio 4 everyday
​

MG: Does your daily rhythm change with the seasons?

FW: In the summer I spend time at the allotment, sometimes really early in the morning, a lovely time to be there, or in the late afternoon or early evening. As there is less to do there in autumn and winter, I get my recorders out again. I am quite deaf, so these days I just play on my own. Cook, look at the emails, maybe finish off some work, then get on with my book, I read quite a lot, and am usually in bed at about ten. ​

MG: What couldn’t you live without in your studio?

FW: As all my work starts with a drawing, I would be really at a loss without my pen and ink. I have a nice glass pen holder that a friend bought for me in Venice, it has been with me for twenty years now. 

MG: Thank you Frans, for giving us an insight into your day and perspective as an artist. I hope you have a fruitfully creative day!
​

MG:What is your favourite kind of day as an artist?

ISM: My favourite days are when I’m beginning work on a new exhibition. But I don’t always leap in action, brush in hand. I’ll kick off the day with a session of yoga in the garden or, even better, a set of tennis with a friend.

If I’m travelling, which is one of the great pleasures of being a landscape artist, I like to get to locations early. If there’s nobody about, particularly if I’m visiting somewhere touristy, I have more freedom. I can find the best angle by climbing on a wall, standing under a bridge or, occasionally, blagging my way into somewhere private with a great view.

This kind of research is tiring but, fortunately, over the years I’ve developed a sixth sense for finding a decent cup of tea.

If I’m working in the studio I like to warm up by painting a few possible beginnings for pictures. They may evolve into something, but often they’re just a way of getting into gear. That done, I’ll draw for a while, getting to know the subject I’m thinking of painting and then I’ll tape some watercolour paper to a board, paint the sky and leave it to dry.

Music is very important to me (I trained as a musician) and it really affects how I work. A late Beethoven string quartet is a great accompaniment for a complex piece of architecture but, if its a lively, expressive landscape the Beatles, Stones or Bob Dylan usually seem to help the work along.

Sometime in the afternoon I’ll knock off and take a walk round the market place outside or further afield and then have a cuppa with Josie (my wife and owner of Masham Gallery). 

The evening often involves some red wine and I’ll sometimes read about somewhere I’m researching, usually with a cat on my lap. I love to find legends about my subjects - it often adds another of meaning layer to the picture. Then  its early to bed and up with the lark again!