Nottingham Contemporary

Hi Becca, Let’s start off with an introduction. Can you introduce yourself and describe your work?

Hello! I make hand-built pottery with drawings on the surface. I’ve been based in Sheffield for almost 8 years but I’m originally from Inverness.

Have you always been creative? Do you remember the first time you put pencil to paper?

I can’t really remember a particular first drawing but when I was wee my mum was a nursery nurse so she always had creative ideas of things we could do, and my dad would make things out of wood for the garden and round the house. So, I think making things just felt really normal because of that. I remember drawing characters from comics and from videos, and I really liked making cakes and things from salt dough, Lego and fabric.

Do you have any art and design heroes?

Loads! Since I was very young, I’ve loved Quentin Blake and Shirley Hughes, and I really love the storytelling styles of Tara Booth and Nick Drnaso. In terms of ceramics, I really look up to Hylton Nel, Philip Eglin, Jennifer Rochlin, Maggie Boyd… the list goes on.

After studying Textile and Surface Design at Gray’s School of Art, you went on to gain a Masters in illustration at Edinburgh College of Art. Did your love of working with clay develop during this time?

Yes, in my 4th year studying Textiles. Until then I’d been trying to screen print, patchwork and embroider textiles but still wasn’t quite sure what I was aiming for. Then I went on an Erasmus exchange in Germany in my 3rd year and by the time it came to return I’d sort of pinned down the fact that it was applied drawing and storytelling that I was excited about. The ceramics cohort at Gray’s was quite small at the time and I remember feeling so excited by what they were doing, and they were patient and generous about having a new person suddenly hanging about the workshop. Then after university I carried on doing some short courses and workshops in clay and gradually learned through those and through lots of trial and error.

After your studies you made the move to Sheffield to take up a Ceramic Starter Studio at Yorkshire Artspace (YAS). How has Sheffield and its community shaped your work and small business?

Without being at YAS I think ceramics might have become a hobby as opposed to something I could really focus on. Before moving to Sheffield from Inverness I took part in a maker support scheme called Emergents where I learned about the business side and had some mentoring. This really spurred me on to feel like I could make pottery my job, but I just didn’t really know how to go about it, so moving to YAS to be part of a big community of makers and artists has been the best decision I’ve ever made. Sheffield as a city is really relaxed and friendly so it’s a nice place to be, and geographically it’s been much easier to take part in markets and shows than if I’d stayed up in the Highlands.

On first viewing your work, visitors will notice visible brush strokes, fingerprints and mark making. Did this aesthetic develop organically and is it an instinctive decision to celebrate and show the making process in this beautiful way?

At first it was definitely organic, due to a lack of technical knowledge and equipment which meant that I had to work quite intuitively. But also because that’s just the way I work - my friend calls it my “messy aesthetic” because it’s how I dress, do my hair and make-up and cook - it’s just the way I am! It feels natural and that is important to me but recently I have been able to do some training to develop my work and it has been surprising to me how much I have enjoyed slowing down and working with precision. I’ve been making pottery for a while now and learning to control aspects of it to balance with the organic messiness feels right too.

I read that your work is often inspired by the themes of superstition and ‘old wives’ tales’. What draws you to these fascinating tales and how do they manifest in your illustrations?

I love researching these stories and making drawings inspired by them. It started off when I was at home after seeing my mum pierce an eggshell with a spoon like always and finally asking why. The story really grabbed my imagination and then that was it, I was off down a bit of a rabbit hole and asking family and neighbours for ones they know and reading up on them all. I’m less connected to these stories now and I wonder if it’s due to being far away from home. The imagery still remains in my head and every so often appears in my drawings, and I’d love to really get stuck in again, but it will happen one day.

Something that I’m drawn to when I look at your work is the depiction of everyday people, domesticity and storytelling. Are these depictions imagined worlds, or do you base your drawings on real life observations and people you know?

I think the everyday-ness and the domestic setting has grown from my research into old wives' tales as the more mundane aspects of these stories and sayings became interesting to me. They’re not consciously based on real life observations or people, but they do look familiar sometimes!

What are your hopes and plans for Becca Brown Ceramics?

I hope that I’ll be able to keep making ceramics forever but being a maker sometimes feels quite solitary and is hard to make a living from, so I’ve recently found part time work that I really enjoy, and it feels quite freeing. As well, I was really lucky to receive some DYCP funding from Arts Council, so between this and the part time work I have time to develop my work and hopefully streamline my process, play and make mistakes. I’m looking forward to seeing how the time to experiment impacts my work. In the distant future I’d like to try and work with textiles again

If we made our way to your neck of the woods in Sheffield, what 3 creatives and businesses should we check out?

Hannah Staniforth, Francisca Onumah and Evelyn Albrow.

Or, you could time your visit for Yorkshire Artspace Open Studios, which is always the 3rd weekend in November and usually coincides with the Endless Love Creative Market too!

Interview by Retail Buyer Lucy Martin.

Shop Becca Brown's ceramics online or in-store at Shop Contemporary.