Our Friday Feature this week is the lovely Kat from Ceramics by Kat. Having grown up in a creative home, Kat had the inspiration and confidence to study Fine Art and Art History at university… and it was there that she found a passion for clay. Fast forward a few years and Kat now makes unique, wheel-thrown, hand-decorated pieces.
Let’s get to know more about the creative woman behind the small business…
I grew up in a creative household – music in the background, and my mum always making something with her hands. She’s one of those people who’d rather mend, stitch, or build it herself and always has a project on the go. That definitely shaped me. I remember collecting bits of foil, and milk bottle lids thinking they might be useful for sculpture, and learning to knit and sew from a young age. At school, I spent breaktimes drawing with friends and selling our work to raise money for charity. I studied art and textiles at school, then went on to do Fine Art and Art History at Newcastle University. That’s where I first worked with clay — and something about it just made sense.
I started out as a painter at Newcastle University, but partway through my first year there, a couple of my friends started trying to use the old potter’s wheel that was tucked away in the department. Curiosity got the better of us, and my friend and I began teaching ourselves to throw. Around the same time, I started bringing clay into my fine art practice too, which became sculptural throughout the course of my degree.
It wasn’t until lockdown, back home in West Yorkshire, that it really shifted. I was struggling — no facilities, no kiln, no real direction — and ended up reaching out to a local potter, Nigel Hoyle, who lives just down the road. He’d been potting since his Bretton college days, and kindly let me fire in his kiln and use his studio while he wasn’t in. It was really his influence that got me into making pottery. I think this really helped pull me out of a dark place. I’d been struggling at university prior to the pandemic, and in a way, slowing down and really focusing on learning a craft was healing for me. While my university work continued to be sculptural, reflecting the rural countryside I grew up surrounded by, I slowly started making pottery alongside as a hobby, and it was something I did just for me!
There comes a point where you’ve made too much pottery to keep it all – selling it just felt like the natural next step. For a while, I only did the odd market here and there, but after a year in a job that left me burnt out (overworked and underpaid, the usual story), I decided I’d rather be exhausted doing something I actually care about.
So, in the run-up to last Christmas [2024], I took the leap and went full-time. I’ve been winging it ever since — picking up lovely stockists across the North, saying yes to new things, and planning markets for the rest of the year, with even a few down in London. I recently worked with a fragrance maker on a bespoke order too, which was such a joy — combining scent and ceramics felt like a bit of magic. No grand five-year plan… just seeing where it takes me, one pot at a time.
I’m most inspired by the small, often-overlooked details — a flower forcing its way through a pavement crack, the soft texture of lichen, tangled branches, rust, light. I find joy in those quiet pockets of potential. Being outdoors helps me breathe better and see clearer — and the sun doesn’t just lift my mood, it fuels me, makes me happy.
Other makers play a big part too. Over time, I’ve become more interested in form — how a piece feels in the hand, the balance and weight of it. I’m often drawn to visual ideas from painters, but it’s potters like Leela Chakravarti, and friends like Natasza Kwiatkowska, who keep me inspired and grounded in the process. I loved meeting some of the Clay College grads at Manchester Ceramics Fair earlier this year — they reminded me how much there is to learn. Artists like Mel Arsenault, who makes big, painterly pots, and Andrew Cranston, with his dreamy, rosy and narrative paintings — their work always gives me a creative nudge, even from outside the world of functional ceramics.
This definitely isn’t a question built for modesty — and like most creatives, I’m pretty good at downplaying myself. But I suppose what keeps things going is a kind of stubborn momentum. I find it hard to switch off, which isn’t always the healthiest, but it does mean I generally stay on top of the million little things running a small business demands.
There’s a constant cycle of ideas bubbling away — whether it’s making, planning markets, networking, learning, or sketching out the next thing. Being a one-woman show means wearing every hat, and somehow, I do manage to keep most of them on. It’s definitely a balancing act, and not one I’ve fully cracked yet… but I’m learning.
I don’t think people always realise how much work, energy, and care goes into every single piece I make. It’s so much more than shaping clay — it’s years of learning, testing, and refining. Each piece is planned, crafted, fired, glazed, fired again… and all that’s before the market days, marketing and admin, and everything else that comes alongside running a small business too.
I think that disconnect is partly a reflection of how we live now — everything’s fast, easy, and disposable. I’ve been reading A Potter’s Book by Bernard Leach, and he talks about that same tension: the value of handmade pots in an age of mass production. He acknowledges the role of factory-made ceramics — they meet a need. But handmade work, he says, is where you find soul, artistry, and human connection. That really resonates with me.
Funnily enough, hand-building with clay, at least for functional wear, just isn’t really my thing. Maybe if I had more patience I’d enjoy it, but I love the immediacy and rhythm of throwing on the wheel too much to slow down.
Outside of clay, my boyfriend tried to teach me bookbinding — he’s incredible at it, even made me a custom hardback sketchbook with my name embossed on the front cover. But for me, making books just doesn’t hit the same spot. I can’t lose myself in the process and rhythm like I can with pottery, or other hobbies like knitting. I think rhythm is important for me when it comes to creativity.
That’s a tough one! Honestly, my favourite project usually feels like whatever I’m working on right now — I try to keep things fresh by putting something new through the kiln regularly. Lately, I’ve been experimenting with throwing bigger pieces and juxtaposingly tiny miniatures, while also testing and experimenting with some new glaze recipes.
I’m also about to take part in my very first wood firing this month, and I’m SO excited for it — it feels like a whole new chapter. I’m most excited to fire some tiny toasty little buttons that I can use in my knitting projects.
Outside of pottery, I find a lot of joy and satisfaction in knitting or sewing something I can actually wear or use every day. There’s something special about that sense of achievement in making something that becomes part of daily life.
Absolutely — especially setting up at markets surrounded by so many amazing stalls. Everyone looks so polished and like they’re totally killing it. But maybe some of them glance at me and think I’m killing it too? Maybe?
Honestly, those doubts usually get buried beneath the busy-ness — there just isn’t time to dwell on them. And when I do pause, I try to remind myself how far I’ve come, even just since last Christmas. That helps. I’m kind of proud of myself
There’s a lot going on in my personal life right now, and balancing that with work can feel overwhelming. I’m not sure I have one big wish — more a quiet hope to get through a tough time ahead.
That said, I’d love to have a garden someday, with a veggie patch and maybe some runner ducks to keep the slugs at bay. It feels like the kind of peaceful, simple joy to aim for.
Kat’s eagerness to learn and explore different techniques with clay, and her joy in creating things that are both beautiful and practical (in her pottery work and in her knitting and sewing hobbies), is really refreshing. We can’t wait to continue following her small business journey and see where her creativity and passion takes her.
In Kat’s words – “My website shop is never very active as I’m always running about doing markets and events – it’s the thing I always tend to neglect and am definitely more active over on Instagram.” so, check out her Instagram account to see more of her pottery creations: @_ceramicsbykat – but you can find details of her upcoming markets and current stockists on her website: ceramicsbykat.co.uk
If you haven’t already found us over on Instagram – why not come say hi and give us a follow. We would love for you to join the conversation and help spread the movement by liking and sharing our content.
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