Kate Ganly is a ceramicist based in North London working from her small studio to create nature inspired pieces designed to bring warmth and texture to your home.

I create handmade stoneware ceramic pieces inspired by the patterns, colours and textures of the natural and urban environment. My botanical bowls, for example, are made by foraging the plants and flowers, often weeds, that grow in parks, along paths and in my garden and imprinting them on the clay. I use oxides and glazes to highlight the textures and organic edges of these pieces, each of which is unique and reflects the time of year it was made.

Originally from Australia, Kate first began creating ceramics in secondary school, completing the equivalent of an A level in Art. After studying English and Anthropology in Sydney, she eventually found her way to London via India and Spain and began working as an English teacher.

 While she has postgraduate degrees in Teaching and Anthropology, Kate has no formal training in ceramics, apart from the short courses which kept drawing her back into the world of clay as a necessary creative outlet. She joined a community studio in 2018 and has gradually spent more and more time making. Ash and Earth Ceramics was originally conceived as a side hustle to sell the abundant work being produced. No longer working as an English teacher, Kate now has a home studio where she spends most of her time on ceramics.

A collector of nature's curiosities such as seed pods, shells and pieces of bark, Kate has always drawn creative energy from natural processes: growth, seasonal change and decomposition. These processes are reflected in the raw expressiveness of her work. Texture is a feature and is often achieved using naturally made tools: a grooved shell, a larch cone, or a hakeme brush made of pine needles.

Using stoneware clays, Kate likes to leave some areas unglazed, using slips and oxides to highlight character and pattern and enhance the raw beauty of the clay. She draws inspiration from the wild places she has travelled as well as the many things growing and decaying in urban London.