Workshop Wisdom - Florian Gadsby
Workshop Wisdom: Meet Florian Gadsby.
Tell us about your work.
My pots are inheritably straightforward, I prefer clean lines, muted tones and uncomplicated shapes, I’ve always tried to make the types of pots I could imagine living with and for the most part they’re functional.
Nowadays there’s more experimentation with metal, fragments are inserted into the clay and are then reduction fired to 1290ºC, I’ve also been attempting to make vessels that are increasingly sculptural. I used to be really fussy and insist on everything being utilitarian, but now I don’t mind if some of my pots are purely decorative objects, if I enjoy the crafting process and like the final piece, that’s all that matters.
I use a range of types of clay but mostly stoneware, it’s all wheel thrown and then coated with a range of feldspathic crackle glazes, metallic blacks, matte whites, stoney crimsons. I try to keep my forms recognisable but change the raw materials they’re made from.
How would you describe your workshop?
Clean, in comparison to most potter’s studio’s I’d say. After two apprenticeships where much of my time was spent tidying up at the beginning and end of each day, now I can’t focus if there’s too much clutter or mess, so I keep on top of the dust and clay-spatter.
Artists’ studios are always my favourite places to visit. They’re a maker’s mind unfurled into a three-dimensional space and they’re normally a direct reflection of their aesthetic, ideals, levels of cleanliness and well, everything.
My current workshop is in an old mill that powered a giant dentistry factory next-door, it was also an industrial laundry at some point and now the units are filled with makers, musicians and set-designers. It’s quiet on the boundary of north London, peacefulness you’d struggle to find in the east of the city where so many of my potter friends are.
What is the usual day in the workshop like for you?
It’s never the same. I juggle making pots, filming videos, taking the dog for walk, glazing and reduction firing. Generally speaking, I work in cycles, I’ll spend 2-3 months throwing and trimming pottery, this is then followed by biscuit firing it all, glazing and reduction firing it all. Then, I’ll photograph everything, update my online website’s shop and click it live, all whilst documenting every step along the way.
I typically spend the daytime’s doing the physical work, then once I’m home in the evening I’ll spend a couple of hours creating ‘content’, not that I always want to but it’s the fuel that keeps the engine running, which is something many craftspeople can probably relate to nowadays, it’s a necessary evil.
How do you best like to work? Music, podcast, silence?
Given all the above, much of my time spent working is in silence due to the camera rolling, yet the second it isn’t the space is filled with music, podcasts and audiobooks, the latter being the most notable. I shouldn’t admit to the number of hours I spend listening to cheesy, operatic-sci-fi, but it helps me through the more tedious, repetitive tasks.
If you could recommend one podcast or YouTube, what would it be?
I love Charlotte Talbot’s recent pottery YouTube videos; you may know her as Super Ceramics. The content she creates is so playful, like her pots I suppose, a welcome salve from the rest of the polarized internet and a good reminder for me to not always be so serious, or rather the fact that it’s okay to show my own jolly side every now and then.
Who inspired you when you were starting your creative career?
I was infatuated by Bernard Leach and his prentices, thereafter the potter’s he inspired and those who carved out their own particular styles, such as Phil Rogers, Mike Dodd and Lisa Hammond. These potters were living the life I thought I might eventually want, and whilst I still aspire to their lifestyles, the aesthetic I’m interested in has changed.
What themes, inspirations or concepts drift into your work?
Metal, delicacy, refinement. I want to create pots that are visually and physically light and airy, that’s why I trim so much, yet they’re often finished with thicker glazes that visually defy the aforementioned qualities. I always like it when somebody picks a pot up of mine and mentions how light it is, I’m equally delighted when somebody says that they could imagine the vessel in the chambers of Paul Atreides, from Dune. You’d think this would be a seldom brought up reference but it happens rather a lot.
I try to actively create shapes that aren’t commonly seen, I try to not let too much external ceramic influence into my workshop and instead I look at work made in different mediums for inspiration.
What is your favourite tool to use?
Tungsten carbide trimming tools, as for the most part, pottery tools are all gradually worn away by abrasive clay, potters famously have shabby tools because of this.
Tungsten blades sail through even coarse stoneware and I have a few exceptionally special tools that were made to measure by tool-maker, Phil Poburka, who is no longer with us. He dedicated his life to two things, saving injured pigeons and crafting the best turning tools.
Do you have a quote or motto that you say to yourself? Do you have any rules or rituals when working?
I’m not really a mottos or ritual person, so I’ll let one of my old tutors do the job for me.
Geoffrey Healy is one of the talented potters I’ve ever met and he’d smile with glee as he threw pots, we thought impossible to make as students, challenges we’d set him. It’s a good motto and it’s his:
“Before you can centre the clay, you must first centre yourself”.
As for rules, I have lots when it comes to creating my specific range of work, rules that help it remain with the style I’ve chiseled out for myself. It might sound restrictive but I like having a ruleset, it’s fun to see how far certain elements can be pushed. This isn’t to say I can’t be creative and try new things but I’d rather be a maker with limitations as it makes my work more recognisable.
What advice do you have for another maker?
In a world where being social media savvy is beginning to take precedence over actual skill and ability in a craft, I’d say focus on yourself and your expertise first, everything else will follow. Don’t get it the wrong way around.
Find out more about Florian here - Instagram - YouTube