🎧 Inspiration Through Experience Tim Saunders

Appears in the January 2024 issue of Ceramics Monthly.

The audio file for this article was produced by the Ceramic Arts Network staff and not read by the author.

Visitors to art fairs think that Michelle Freemantle looks like her pots. “Often it’s when I’m wearing clothes of a similar color,” elaborates Freemantle. “And why not, I am my work, my work is me.” 

Acquired Influences 

She credits her degree in applied arts at Derby University covering ceramics, wood, and metals for inspiring her to make a career from clay. “Having actual working potters, Sebastian Blackie, Jerry James, and Josie Walters as tutors on the course showed me that I could have a profession making,” she says, admitting that when she graduated in 1999, she did not actually know how to fire a kiln or make a glaze “because the technician did all that” for her. After graduation, Freemantle traveled to Japan, Finland, and France, gaining more knowledge, before returning to England to work as an assistant to Rob Bibby in Peterborough in 2002. 

Freemantle has had a lifelong love affair with Finland, ever since she first visited during her studies and was captivated by its snowy landscapes. “It was bitterly cold that first time I was there, with temperatures down to -40°C. Icicles hung on my lashes as I walked over frozen lakes. It really was magical. I think these experiences lay seeded in my head for a long time before developing into my Talvi series, which translates as winter, in Finnish. The silver birches, lakes, [and the] patternation on the land made from roads, fences, and field boundaries intersecting through blankets of white provided inspiration for this range. Even down to the shadows created on the snow from blue, blue skies above.” 

Freemantle’s approach to ceramics was transformed when, after graduating, she was selected to take part in IWCAT 2000, an international workshop in Tokoname, Japan. She was subsequently invited back two years later to make work for an international group exhibition. “Japan had a huge effect on me and my approach to ceramics,” she says. “Through staying with a host family, I saw at mealtimes each dish complimenting the food it contained. Conscious thought had gone into the placing of foods and the choice of ceramics used. I liked the idea that I wasn’t simply eating to sustain my body, I was feeding my eyes and my mind at the same time.” Her series Grasping the Orient was born from the visual and mental impact Japan had on her. “The circle and cross imagery represent how experiences are carried with you throughout your life and never really have a cut-off point, due to them infiltrating the past, present, and future.” 

Melding Function and Art 

Making functional ceramics that are tactile and visually pleasing, using a mix of handbuilt, press-molded, and wheel-thrown techniques is Freemantle’s focus. Lines and text are inscribed into the surfaces and slips applied. “I like the way you can get more pleasure from eating and drinking from handmade vessels and I try to meld function and art into each piece.” 

The entire process from extracting the clay from the earth to making a piece is heartily embraced by Freemantle. “I like the idea that the medium comes from the ground and that by manipulating it and adding heat, it is transformed into a watertight vessel. When I’m doing fairs there can be 100 or so potters there and you can’t help think we all use the same material, but all express ourselves and produce pots so differently to each other.” 

Building a Business 

Her passion for ceramics and her drive to establish her own studio saw Freemantle build her own business up around her full-time job in a meat factory; a position secured with her partner when they relocated to Yorkshire to get on the housing ladder. “In 2004, I bought a kiln and prepared to do my first show, Potfest in the Pens in 2005. Her latest range, Landlines, is a celebration of Yorkshire. “Living in the East Yorkshire Wolds you are surrounded by agriculture in all directions,” Freemantle observes. “Throughout the seasons, it is a constant visual source of changing field colors and markings: yellow rapeseed being predominant in late spring, then there are potatoes, wheat, and barley. Lots of undulation goes on with the valleys and plenty of chalk, forming my palette of yellow, green, white, and gray/black.” 

By 2009, Freemantle was potting around a guaranteed two-day wage as a part-time graphic design assistant. This she did for five more years, before realizing her dream of solely relying on ceramics for her income. After working set hours in a factory, it took Freemantle many years to embrace the fact that she is now self-employed and her own boss. “I don’t have to feel guilty not being in the studio at set hours,” she says, adding that it allows flexibility. “I’ll work through getting the orders out then happily take four days off to visit friends or family.” If the weather is great, she won’t think twice about ditching the clay and grabbing a trowel to do the gardening. “I’ll work those extra hours late at night. I’d rather be glazing at 11pm than in the studio at 7am,” she says. Days of the week have no relevance to her. 

A typical working day will see Freemantle “get out of bed, make a cup of tea, and head into the studio.” She notes, “I’ll work in there for an hour or maybe two before coming in to have breakfast. Then a couple more hours out there followed by a good hour off for lunch, where I’ll most likely read. And then I’ll be back out, working until whenever in order to do what needs to be done to meet deadlines.” 

firing two to three times a week, “great in the winter when it’s not particularly motivational to work out there in the cold, but can be bikini hot in summer.” Organization is key to success and Freemantle has a list of work that needs making from her order book. “I’ll make, slip, then get a bisque on. I’ll make more work in the heat of that firing, glaze the bisque work, finish the making of the greenware, slip, then get the kiln back on with that bisque.” 

The entrepreneurial spirit of any successful potter sees Freemantle juggling the joy of making with wrapping pots for customers, satisfying gallery orders, photographing work, or applying to shows. Then there’s all the administration to take care of in the form of emails, accounts, and her website to keep updated. “Every day is different, depending on what needs to be done and I like this variety a lot.” 

Materials 

Strong stoneware is well suited to Freemantle’s functional tableware. “I use Scarva Earthstone ES5 for some work. It has quite a pale body with strength for throwing and when I want a more rugged look with iron appearing on the surface, Potclays’ Flecked Stoneware.” 

Freemantle makes up slips to color and add texture to her work, then adds a glaze over the top. “I use Potclays’ transparent clear glaze and mix other glazes like a matte gray and matte tin white myself.” 

Creating and Cost of Living 

Outdoor ceramic fairs and galleries are Freemantle’s preferred way of selling her work. “Potfest in the Park is a favorite,” she says, adding that she is represented by around 30 galleries in the UK. Her work is also available at Not on the High Street. “I don’t tend to do social media, although I know many potters successfully selling on Instagram and Facebook.” Although she does accept commissions, Freemantle cherry-picks. “I’ve learned not to say yes to everything. They can be tricky things getting to the heart of what someone wants without betraying who I am and pleasing them, too.” 

In 2020 it cost Freemantle approximately £42 ($51) to fire her electric kiln. In 2022, with the government cap, it was £125 ($153). “For the first time in five years, I’ve put my prices up. Thankfully clay hasn’t gone up all that much. I live in a bubble and carry on.” Her prices range from £20 to £250 ($23 to $287). 

Plans for the Future 

“I know from making in Finland, France, and Japan [that] a new physical environment sparks my inspiration,” she says. “I feel I’m at a point for a new challenge and applied to do a residency in 2023 . . . . Although I made the shortlist, I didn’t make the final three. I feel ready to immerse myself in another culture, so if anyone reading this knows of a good ceramics residency then please let me know.” 

For more information on Michelle Freemantle’s studio and work, visit www.creativelyoccupied.com. 

the author British journalist Tim Saunders writes about art and ceramics. When he has time, he enjoys painting and making.