2. Jade Gallup Studio
“My tutor at university always said that I worked intuitively. I don’t enjoy designing on paper. If I have an idea I might do a rough sketch, but my ideas don’t flow when I draw”
Ceramicist Jade Gallup works from a cosy log cabin that she built herself, in her Clapton garden. She invited me in on a grey and rainy October day and I struggled to leave – warmed by the kiln and filled with her ceramics and tools, sketches and other objects dotted about, it felt like a treasure trove.
Jade favours working with porcelain, which is finer in quality than other ceramic materials: “I wanted my work to be kept and cherished, rather than something that would be bought, tired of and replaced” she says. She has never enjoyed throwing on a wheel - instead she likes to build by hand or slip cast, which guarantees some uniformity.
She casts the main body of a mug (for example) using a plaster mould that she has created. She pours the slip (liquid porcelain) into the mould where the plaster draws out all of the water and she is left with a “skin”. She takes this out, makes the handle by hand, attaches it to the body of the mug and leaves it to dry for 24 hours before it has its first firing at 1000 degrees. It’s then glazed and fired again at 1250 degrees, overnight. After that it cools for 24 hours (if it doesn’t cool slowly, the porcelain may crack). If gold lustre is added, the mug needs one last firing at 780 degrees. The base then needs polishing before it can go off to its new home.
Sustainability is important to Jade and there is very little waste – any broken or scrap pieces of un-fired porcelain are put in a bucket and eventually made into new slip for her to work with (see photos below).
After studying a BA in ceramics and glass at Buckinghamshire Chilterns University, Jade trained with renowned ceramicist Neil Brownsword.
“My tutor at university always said that I worked intuitively. I don’t enjoy designing on paper. If I have an idea I might do a rough sketch, but my ideas don’t flow when I draw”.
Jade’s main challenge is juggling her life as a single mother to two demanding boys with her business - “it can be very intense” she says. Childcare is a problem that can be tricky to overcome – none of Jade’s family are close by. She doesn’t have the support from her mother that she had before the pandemic. She also struggles with the non-creative part of running the business, such as admin, as she’s dyslexic so it doesn’t come naturally to her. She prefers things to be lo-fi and is thrown by anything too technical: “it takes me so long to do what, for others, would be a five minute job. When you’re running a business like mine you need to be a photographer, a stylist, a bookkeeper, an administrator, you have to keep in touch with stockists, manage all sorts of relationships, social media….”
What’s great about being a creative in London, is that, pre-COVID, Jade could get involved in all of the markets throughout the year and get feedback from people. This is especially significant when she has worked on something new. It’s a brilliant way for her to see what people think of new pieces and see if the price bracket is right. Being somewhere like Hackney is perfect for that, as historically, there have been several craft markets to choose from throughout the year. Sadly these markets will now be few and far between until normal life can resume and this will have a significant impact on Jade and many other crafts people throughout the UK.
Luckily for us, she has joined The Worshipful!
“When someone buys one of my pieces it makes me feel like what I’m doing is worthwhile, it’s literally the difference between whether I can continue to be creative or not. I’m not qualified to do anything else!! It means everything – it’s a part of me. It gives me validation! And reassures me I’m not being completely mad sitting here making nice things and thinking I can make a living from it”.
Find Jade on Instagram here and find my selection of her handmade porcelain pieces here.