Profile

Hi, I'm Victoria Baker and I run Little Wren Pottery here on Folksy.

In 2007 I graduated from Dundee University with an undergraduate degree in Interactive Media Design but I also love working with my hands to create pottery.

I find that in the digital world we're all too often removed from creating real tangible things, my Dad encouraged me to take up pottery after graduating. He's a great potter himself and I certainly wouldn't be half as good if it wasn't for him!

I'm from Sunderland which is a coastal city in the north east of England. It has a great reputation for pottery and ceramics and in some small way I feel like I'm carrying on the tradition.

I primarily throw pots in buff clay which creates stoneware pots, all my clay comes from Devon. The process of creating a piece from start to finish is quite a long one and can take anything from 4 to 5 weeks. A pot is thrown from a piece of clay, its then left to dry before loading into the kiln for the first firing known as the biscuit fire. Once biscuit fired it is then glazed and put in for its second firing.

At any stage of production something can go wrong so its often a difficult process that can be awkward to get right first time. Patience is often the key!

My work is inspired by other local potters, being outside in my garden which has quite an active bird population and Japanese pottery - in particular the potter Shoji Hamada.

Although pottery is my main pastime I also do other creative projects and I'm a keen knitter.

You can catch up on what I'm doing via my blog at http://www.littlewrenpottery.co.uk or on twitter http://www.twitter.com/moominmidge

Thanks for dropping by!