Emma Louise Payne, ceramicist and Creative Director at County Hall Pottery

Emma Louise Payne sitting in her studio smiling. — *Emma in her studio, photo by Louise Yeowart*

I am a fan not only of Emma’s beautiful work but also of County Hall Pottery. Reading about Emma’s plans for the future only reinforced that massively - such exciting ideas, I look forward to seeing it all unfold! Read on for Emma’s thoughtful and thought-provoking answers to my questions…

Who are you?

I'm mid existential crisis having read that question. I'm getting close to 40 and still trying to figure out who I am on a weekly basis but there are a few things I've worked out about myself. I recognise that I'm not a brain surgeon and that my work isn’t life or death and should be enjoyed. Of course there are still taxes and deadlines but through the community we’ve built at County Hall Pottery, I try to inspire and bring joy. Ceramics is a great way of implementing that life should be enjoyed in the everyday. I split my time between my parents’ farm where my personal studio is and London where I've spent the past two years building County Hall Pottery alongside a fantastic team. I don’t believe anyone builds anything alone and I can’t take credit for the success that is County Hall without recognising our friendly gallery team, our knowledgable technicians and our freelance team of PR and marketing gurus.

Ceramic vases — *London Plane Homeware by Emma*

Why do you also have a thing with ceramics?

We encounter ceramic so much throughout our days that why shouldn’t it be enjoyed. We are also getting deeper and deeper into a digital world that the popularity of ceramics gives us a literal connection to the ground, to reality. The world of ceramics is so broad that you can learn something new everyday and still be learning 20 years later. I love this about ceramics - there is always something to be learnt. It keeps it fresh and new.

When did ceramics come into your life?

I went to a secondary school on an art scholarship - this school had an artist in residence and a kiln. The artist in residence experimented with clay and was so kind sharing her knowledge with the students. She helped me make a big pot for my GCSE. This is where it really started (even if I have forgotten her name) and think that it stems from my Erasmus during the second year of my bachelors to Bergen Norway in their ceramic department. Weirdly in Norway my tutor (Richard Launder) was the father of a man that when back in London, I worked for. Richard came to my degree show - which was all ceramics - and suggested I go to Guldagergaard in Denmark on residency - where someone suggested I went to China to do a residency and do the MA in ceramics in Copenhagen. Perhaps I'm easily suggestible and like travel. So it’s just naturally formed my path.

Ceramic and glass lights — *The Meld Collection by Emma - photo Alick Cotterill*

Where can we find you on a typical day?

On a train probably. County Hall has been in my life for over two years now and I'm still trying to balance my two businesses. In general terms I work in my studio Monday and Tuesday then at County Hall Wednesday - Friday. Which usually means I'm loading a kiln over the weekends.

As my career has progressed, I’ve become more and more a curator of people and objects, which I love but sometimes think I need more official training on. I also love my family, friends and pets so any excuse for a dog walk to a pub will be taken! I begrudgingly go to the gym when I can, as ceramics is physical - it is its own workout but I'm aware I need to be balanced and try to get this through yoga and pilates (sometimes a HIT class). I’d like to have a weekly ceramic fitness class at County Hall - ceramic specific stretches and strength exercises. This is an idea stolen from my friend Hilda Piazolla who runs Peach Corner in Denmark- they do a back strengthening class once a month as a team.

Wooden shelves with ceramics on — *Shelves in Emma’s studio, photo by Louise Yeowart*

What are your plans for the future?

I love working at County Hall Pottery and am so proud of the team that we’ve built. The drive behind everything we do feels so strong and positive due to the involvement and passion of our team - two of whom will be showing at Collect this year.

We want to curate shows and host master classes that show what we find interesting in ceramics. In some artist’s cases we hope to be a stepping stone to other galleries. Sort of a feeder gallery and in this way our reputation grows and we can showcase established artists alongside newer ones curated in shows that tell an interesting story of what is happening in ceramics.

I hope to expand our studio to be able to offer a large scale studio for those wanting to make the most of our large kilns and be able to rent a studio on site to make large scale work and take out the challenge of transport.

We want to take County Hall Pottery on the road to art fairs and ceramic fairs across the world to increase our visibility. We also want to take our in-house range to smaller markets across the UK and London to promote our classes and teachers. Our classes are proving popular with a series of master classes for next year to be unveiled before Christmas. Our hope is that we can, in time look at doing after school clubs or classes and offer some places free for students with a keen interest in art or ceramics. We want to inspire the next generation and appreciate that art is often underfunded and hope to be able to expand the reach of ceramics to a new generation within our local area.

We hope to expand County Hall Pottery to provide a digital presence for selling for all our artists. We are in the process of redoing our website so that our online shop is a fitting platform to highlight our artists and enable people to purchase small edition sculptures as well as practical mugs and vases.

Our aim is to provide a platform for ceramic techniques to be shared and support those artists financially.

We have big hopes and dreams and I feel a team who can accomplish this.

Emma's website