Tell us a bit about Naked Clay Ceramics
I’m Carla Sealey and Naked Clay Ceramics is my range of ceramic vessels. I’m based in Bedfordshire and my studio is on an arable farm close to the Cambridgeshire border.
After 20 years working as an Environmental Scientist I went back to University to study for an Art degree. Since graduating I’ve been working as a designer/maker. I originally ran my studio as a jewellery, glass and ceramics space but decided to focus on just ceramics in 2017 when Naked Clay Ceramics was born.
Tell us more about your studio and ways of working?
I make both functional and sculptural pieces. The functional arm of my practice is a tableware range that I designed and developed about 8 years ago. It includes mugs, plates, bowls, lidded containers and vases. Some of the pieces are slip cast from handmade moulds that I make myself. The handles are made separately and attached by hand.
I’m inspired by the textures and colours of nature, especially the landscape and geology around Snowdonia.
Slip casting a consistent form means I can spend more time on designing different finishes. It’s provided a canvas for me to explore different mark making and glazing techniques and although the forms remain the same, the collection changes every couple of years to reflect different inspirations.
Sculptural pieces are usually hand built using a coiling technique, or slab built to explore less symmetrical forms. I use white porcelain slip as a contrast to decorate the dark chocolate brown stoneware I like to use.
My focus is always on leaving the outside of the vessel as near to natural as possible, with minimal glazing, so that there is a tactile surface of raw fired clay for people to feel and connect with.
What inspired your range in the Kettle’s Yard Shop? Why did you want to collaborate with us?
The miniature wildflower vases are a tiny collectable reflection of the seasonal colours of flora and fauna.
The colours we see in the elements of nature, the sky, the sea, and the land are reflected in the tall porcelain vases.
Inspired by everyday joy from the natural world, the Spirit range of black stoneware is about movement, moments and stillness.
I’ve been visiting Kettle’s Yard for longer than I can remember! I used to come when the house was (wo)manned by volunteers. You rang the pull bell and someone would come to the door and let you in.
I’ve spent hours wandering around, looking through books in the library area, sitting on seats within touching distance of a Lucie Rie bowl, a Ben Nicholson painting. I’ve always loved the dining room with the long table and the pebbles on the table in the cottages. Kettle’s Yard has provided me with space, peace and joy over the years.
If you had to buy yourself a gift from the Kettle’s Yard shop, what would you choose?
Difficult, there’s so many lovely things to choose from! I think I’d probably leave with one of the Lucie Rie books. I visited the Lucie Rie: The Adventure of Pottery exhibition at Kettle’s Yard a couple of years ago, and loved not only the exhibition downstairs but the archive film of her talking to David Attenborough. Inspirational.
Shop Naked Clay Ceramics
Naked Clay Ceramics
Browse our range of ceramics by Naked Clay Ceramics in the Kettle’s Yard Shop. Choose from the beautiful miniature vessels, perfect for gathering posies of wildflowers, to the Spirit Regular Mug, inspired by everyday joy in the natural world.
