What This Artist Does All Day...

Charlotte Morrison

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. ​ 

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MG: When/how do you take breaks?
​CM: Regular tea breaks through the day and, if I've got time, I like to head out in the morning for a walk to start the day. 

MG: When is your favourite time of day to create?
​CM: Afternoons and evenings I feel most creative. As I'm not a morning person I find it takes me till then to wind up into the day and feel I'm most productive and creative then. 

Meadow Bowl by Charlotte Morrison

Leaf Vases by Charlotte Morrison

'The Ruin' Vessel Set by Charlotte Morrison

MG: Does your daily rhythm change with the seasons?
​CM: Yes, early on in the year is a restful, but creative, time after the busy Christmas period. Late spring is a hive of activity in the studio preparing for shows starting in late Spring/Summer.  This generally continues through until winter and only calms again come December. 

MG: What makes a good day?
​CM: Handbuilding around 15 -20 pots. A good glaze firing with not too many cracked pots or seconds. 

MG: What couldn’t you live without in your studio?
​CM: The basics for me that I couldn't live without would be porcelain clay and my trusty oversized rolling pin. 

MG: Where do you find inspiration?
​CM: I find inspiration from nature and landscape around me, places like Hackfall Woods. 

MG:How does the place you work in influence you, if at all? 
​CM: I work from my garage and home, a little place in Aiskew near Bedale. It has a small but delightful garden which backs onto peaceful fields and a group of trees used as a rookery. The feeling of bine enclosed by nature and not overlooked by houses is very important to me and comes through in my work. For example, the Rookery set I make is inspired by the trees around my current home and my meadow pattern pieces are inspired by the fields around my childhood home near Masham.

MG: How do you end your day?
​CM: Gardening, walking or a glass of something, or perhaps another cuppa tea.

MG: Thank you very much Charlotte for sharing your day with us.

You can check out Charlotte's work in our A Particular Place Exhibition.