Global Pottering with Potter Izzy Letty
Meet Izzy, a potter based in London who creates homeware as beautiful as she is (inside and out). You might recognise her from hit show BBC1’s Make it at Market in 2023 or if your TV was broken you might have seen her in the pages of House & Garden and World of Interiors.
Here she tells us a little about becoming a potter, being a potter, travelling as a potter and the dream holiday of this potter.
Where did you learn your craft?
I first got a taste for pottery at a throwing evening classes at Putney School of Art. I've since done small workshops and masterclasses at Studio Pottery London in Victoria and the magical West Dean in West Sussex. The place that I really think of as my formative education, despite there being no teaching, was the Guldagergaard in the Danish countryside. It's a collection of studios, glaze labs and kilns where ceramic artists come to do residencies. Right at the start of my pottery journey I went to Guldagergaard for 6 months to work as a studio assistant and later a production potter. I learnt so much there from the other potters and technicians, while being able to immerse myself in ceramics. It's in a small sleepy town called Skaelskor a couple of hours outside of Copenhagen, which was a 10 minute cycle to the beach where I'd swim most mornings. It was pure bliss.
Where have you felt most inspired?
I definitely felt really inspired during my time in Denmark. Partly due to rubbing shoulders with other far more professional potters, but also the esteem that Denmark as a culture holds ceramics and design to.
This might be a slightly boring answer but London's museums and galleries are INCREDIBLE for getting inspired. The 6th floor at the V&A, or the collection of Chinese ceramic at the British Museum are highlights for me. On my list to go is the William Morris gallery in Walthamstow which I've heard good things about.
Where are the best destinations to travel for potters?
The beautiful thing about pottery is that every country and culture has a folk tradition of making pots so if you're a pottery nerd like me, whenever I go on holiday I do some googling and there's always something to see. For example I was on a trip to Sri Lanka recently, not your classic pottery destination, and we asked in our guest house if they knew of any local potters. A few phone calls later and we were on our way to visit a local potter who showed us her workshop, her pots and kiln which she fires with coconut husks - an abundant source of fuel!
There's a lot of wonderful Italian towns which are famous for pottery. I recently went to Grottaglie for a day when on holiday in Puglia and it was really fun to stroll around lots of pottery workshops and stores, and then to wax lyrical over a Spritz to my long suffering boyfriend about all the amazing pots.
Japan is often seen as a bit of a mecca for potters. I've never been but I'm itching to go to Mashiko in Japan.
Closer to home, I'd really recommend a day trip to Kettles Yard in Cambridge, or Charleston in Lewes. Both are home/gallery spaces left just as they were when they were lived in by the curators Jim and Helen Ede (Kettles Yard) and painters Vanessa Bell and Duncan Grant (Charleston). They're wonderful places to float around for a couple of hours and see works of art amongst furniture and lots of pots. The domestic settings feel intimate and I find them inspiring to see how creatives (with better eyes than me) have chosen to live amongst and with particular objects.
Deptford is home to your studio. When you aren't at your wheel, where are you grabbing a coffee, places you put your face in the sun?
I absolutely love Deptford and it still feels a little under the radar of a lot of Londoners even. On the weekends there's a great market which sells things from jumble sale knick knacks to anquites. Food and drinks wise, there's a lot to offer. For coffee my favourite is Mousetail in the railway arch by the station - perfect for getting caffeinated en route to the studio. My absolute favourite pub in London is in Deptford and it's called the Dog and Bell - all year round it feels like Christmas on steroids in there with red painted walls and so many twinkly fairy lights you can't quite believe the fuse box is in tact. In terms of restaurants, Marcella, Taca Tacos and Buster Mantis are excellent. Or for a more chilled one, it doesn't look like much from the outside but The Duke pub does wonderful wood fired pizza. As I'm in the studio 5 or 6 days a week, I find I need a leg stretch to break up the day so I often jog to Greenwich park which is a couple of km away from my studio. It's got a killer hill which is hell to run up but you get a gorgeous view over the river.
Imagine this... Kim Kardashian eats pasta out of your bowls and Lady Gaga reads by candlelight coming from your candlesticks. You are a millionaire and a global pottery phenomenon. Where is your dream holiday destination? How are you spending your money?
It's not the most exciting answer but honestly it would be somewhere beachy and hot. I love the heat. If I could have a beach on a Greek island, but with the food and wine from Italy I'd be happy as a clam. Ideal day would be walking up quite early before anyone else is up and going to the beach for a swim when the light is low and the water's very calm. I'd then come back for a coffee (or two) and spend the morning with a book. Lunch sat under a leafy tree overlooking the water with a bunch of friends or family. I'd like a slow and long 4 course italian style feast with the wine a flowing, followed by a swim and nap on the beach. It's quite a simple and basic holiday dream, but honestly for me the best holidays are spent with just two modes - horizontal or sat around a restaurant table, with a view of the sea at all times.
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Thank you and love you Izz.