16. Beatrice Minns
“To me they are altars to whatever/whomever someone chooses to worship or celebrate, hopefully offering a moment to stop and reflect in busy everyday lives”
It’s easy to see why Beatrice Minn’s ceramic shrines are so popular, they are completely unique and so personal. They have something of a cult following and, whenever I have any in stock, they never hang around long.
As a child, Beatrice’s mother would send her to Camden Arts centre every weekend for pottery club. Here is where her passion for ceramics began and where she learned the basics, but as an adult most of the skills she has developed have been self-taught. She also credits her mother-in-law (also a ceramicist) with giving her invaluable advice, when needed.
Beatrice’s main occupation is as a set designer, currently with immersive theatre company, Punch Drunk. She also has three young children, so her time spent working on her ceramics is, as Beatrice puts it, “an opportunistic balancing act!”. The money she makes when she sells her ceramics goes straight back into childcare, to give her the time to continue to make.
Growing up in a creative family, it was inevitable that Bea would follow a similarly artistic path: “my family home was always filled with beautiful treasures so my magpie attachment to objects and artwork begins there, I’m sure”.
Having studied painting and textiles, Bea says she is naturally drawn to colour and really enjoys experimenting with surface design on her ceramics as well as sculptural form, which you can see on her wall plates, figures and candle holders. Currently she is working with a neutral colour palette for her shrines which, she says, suits their purpose of relic holder / devotional place or somewhere to display a favourite object. A neutral space, ready to be curated or adorned by the individual.
Another Clapton dweller, Beatrice says that she finds the frenetic energy of Hackney makes her focus her time more effectively “there are so many other things to be doing and directions you are pulled in all the time, so the constant need to protect creative time means that when I have it, I am very productive”.
The most common thread throughout these interviews is how utterly gratifying everyone finds it when people put their faith in their work and make a purchase “it makes me very happy indeed. I feel like I’m just starting out on my artistic journey, so every time someone buys something I’ve made, it feels like a little nudge saying ‘keep going’…..”
A day working in ceramics for Bea varies hugely “I have days where I am making things I know well and some days where I don’t have an outcome in mind, and just play. It’s good for me to have a balance of both”. On her shrines specifically, she tells me she is inspired by her interest in relics, mythology and ceremony, and feels a pull to make pieces purposefully for displaying memories, precious objects and nature to be held up and celebrated: “to me they are altars to whatever/whomever someone chooses to worship or celebrate, hopefully offering a moment to stop and reflect in busy everyday lives”.
While working, Bea enjoys listening to podcasts (swinging between The Guilty Feminist, The Blindboy Podcast and Fall of Civilisations) and especially enjoys being taken on historical journeys, to feel connected to the past “there is a comfort in knowing it’s all been seen and done before us”, she says (which ties in beautifully with her work).
Next on the agenda for Bea: delving into the power of the object - she’s going to create portable amulets for your pockets. We’ll all be on the waiting lis for those!
Find Beatrice on Instagram, buy her pieces here and check out her website here.
