The Design-Nation team is delighted welcome another 24 talents to our portfolio, half of whom are working in ceramics. Of course, we love all things clay, but we’re pretty keen on other craft & design disciplines too, so these are listed first.
Jewellery, Textiles, Leather, Paper and Casting
Two of our seven new Professional* members are jewellers. Rachel Stowe brings her expertise in textiles to her playful array of colourful jewellery, often made to commission; while Susi Hines skilfully creates textural pieces using ethically sourced and sometime recycled precious metals and stunning gemstones.
Lisa Todd Designs is an eponymous brand joining as a Professional; dazzling designs for interior products created in partnership with South African artisans and not-for-profits. After a life-changing accident, Lisa has built an award-winning business that can be found in leading museum shops such as Museum of the Home, London and The Smithsonian Museum of African Art, Washington.
Of our twelve new Associates, three are jewellers: the first is Jane Frost who treasures her curiosity and makes remarkable pieces based on historic buildings and capivating narratives. Liz Stovell is transitioning from sensitive remakes of family heirlooms to her own ready-to-wear range, called Untold Jewellery and valuing quality, craftsmanship and ethical sourcing. Rebecca Enderby focuses on form, tactility, self-expression and concept, informed by her non-traditional background with a Masters in human geography.
Other new Associates include Geoff Stocker who has had a substantial career in surface design for fashion, and is now venturing into new decorative pieces for interiors that are created by laser-etching metal. Adrienne Holman also makes work for interiors – vessel and wall pieces that are carefully carved in leather from her own botanical drawings.
Nature is also a key influence for Ling Warlow who describes her handcrafted art pieces as “paper botany”. Pippa Ryan’s mixed media assemblages also incorporate natural elements, alongside human ephemera and treasured keepsakes. Our eighth new Associate is weaver and textile designer Bonnie Kirkwood, who has set up her own atelier after being an in-house designer for illustrious British brands Designers Guild and Paul Smith.
Finally, Associate member Rachel Carter has an impressive sculptural practice, casting from handmade textiles and using digital and lost wax techniques, to create pieces that reflect key moments in history, often informed by her in-depth research.
All About Ceramics
We walk upon the earth every day, we form it into building materials and structures, and we make vessels, utensils, tools and decorative forms. Our latest joiners have an amazing array of clay work between them, and their exciting influences are drawn from all over the globe.
There are four new Professionals in ceramics: Ama Adansi-Pipim brings together her cultural heritage as a British-born Ghanian maker and a background in architecture to make functional and collectible objects; former painter Belgin Bozsahin is fascinated by porcelain’s qualities, fragility and resilience, and is always developing new forms and techniques. Qi Fang Colbert makes utterly distinctive pieces that draw on her many skills (artist, ceramicist, illustrator and researcher) and world philosophies, carving into stoneware to foster curiosity about the unknown. Tim Fluck’s award winning sculptural ceramics are playful, multi-hued and reference 20th century movements such as Brutalism and the Memphis Group.
Design-Nation welcomes five new Graduate members, all working in clay of one sort or another. Beril Nur Denli originally studied landscape architecture and interior design in her native Turkey, before completing an MA at the RCA London this year; her work embraces improvisations, and explores the complexities and intricacies of life. Another 2024 Masters graduate, Chloe Charrington studied at Cardiff School of Art & Design, and her pieces celebrate stillness and reflection, feelings informed by walks in the woodlands near her Welsh home. Iara Talledo Violani graduated from Brighton in 2023 and takes influence from contemporary music and brutalist architecture in her native Brazil, balancing the opposing forces of chaos and perfection.
Graduate Laura Lee studied at Doncaster and is bringing her previous art practice in botanical drawing to her new love for clay, hand-building and raku firing her vessels. Mary Stephens has a background in fine art sculpture and yoga, now combined in a 2024 Masters from Hereford where her thrown and part-glazed porcelain vessels embody philosophies about human flourishing and daily rituals.
Our last three ceramicists are all new Associates. John Weston explores intersections of nature, form, and texture, celebrating the natural imperfections and fluidity of clay. Kirsty Wright trades as RAW86 Ceramics, hand building stoneware forms as she seeks inspiration from landscapes, architecture, nature, ancient techniques and her urban environment. Losa Lou Ceramics is the brand name of Cheyenne Chew Siegel who creates ceramic jewellery which she aims to be refined, delicate and elegant, as well as one-off colourful vessels for interiors.
