Katie Mac Ceramics

Katie Mac designs and makes ceramic vessels and other products inspired by the British coast. These pieces range from tea light holders to hanging stars to framed work to cylindrical vessels for holding grasses, flowers, etc. All the work you see here is made from her windowless studio with a fantastic heater, her temperamental kiln. To counteract the lack of windows, the wall is plastered with photographs of her coastal adventures and day trips.

She spent her childhood on the island of Antigua for many years and spent summers here in the UK visiting family, those days were mainly filled with spending time with grandparents roaming Northumberland, especially Kielder Forest and the coast. While doing her studies at Uni she came across many techniques and ideas and decided to throw it all together while combining her love for the sea, and here is the product of those experimental days.

The ceramics are made from her unique blend of recycled paper and stoneware clay. This gives the pieces a distinctive texture and feel unlike the majority of ceramics out there. The work is decorated using gorgeous shades of blues and greens to evoke the spirit of to coast.To heighten this feeling, a strip of sand is placed down the seam to give a wonderful visual feast as well as extra texture. All vessels are glazed on the inside so they are able to hold liquid and are fine in high moisture areas, such as bathrooms.

So, what makes her different:

There are no wheels or need for fancy molds. All work is based on slab building - but no standard slab building. Slabs of plaster are decorated and then the clay blend is poured over the top. Let it all set and you have a slab, peel it off and start creating.She doesn't use standard casting slip or manufactured paperclay. The 'special' mix is a chosen base clay (such as stoneware or porcelain) that is churned with recycled paper, either by using a casting slip version or by drying out plastic clay and slaking that down. She shreds the paper herself using bank statements, office documents, etc. It is quite a labour intensive process but the textures that come from it are wonderful and one of the major parts of aspects of the work.She doesn't bisque the work, it's all fired in one go, glaze and all. This is known as raw firing. Only the inside of her ceramic vessels are glazed. The use of paperclay also helps this process as it's mighty strong in 'green' state. So all in all, she's not your standard potter - everything is a little backwards but that's how she likes it.

Some scenes contain a lone person walking along the shore, the seagull gliding in the air, an approaching storm and so on. All work is fired once, this reduces my impact on the environment and helps keep work affordable. Time for a bit of beachcombing and some fresh, salty sea air!

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