We are excited to bring you into the studio of artist Britt Neech, founder of Clae Studio. Britt designs and hand-crafts her ceramics from her Mornington Peninsula studio, focusing on unique yet timeless design.
Her sculptural pieces showcase the beauty and versatility of using clay as her medium, resulting in natural, textured pieces. We spoke to Britt about the creative process behind Clae Studio, and get the lowdown on what's to come.
1. Hi Britt! Thank you so much for bringing us inside your studio. For those who don’t know you, can you give us the lowdown on who you are and what you do?
Hi! I’m an artist based on the Mornington Peninsula, Victoria. I hand build sculptural ceramic vessels under the name Clae Studio.
2. What has your creative journey been like to date? Have you always been in this line of work?
I’ve been working with clay for 6 years now, but it started out from just needing something fun and creative to do while studying and working in an admin role. I completely fell in love with the process of creating with clay wanted to learn more. I enrolled in a few different courses over the years and just kept making! I’m now lucky enough to have a home studio and to be making art full-time.
3. Tell us the process behind all your amazing pieces. Where and what do you draw inspiration from?
I make my work by hand so every piece is slightly different from the next. I mainly use the coil building and slab building methods which are both quite slow and mindful processes. I’m inspired by lots of different things - architecture, fashion, colours, textures - my eyes are always open and my brain is always taking notes.
4. How do you achieve such amazing colours and patterns?
Achieving a balance between form, colour and surface is something that I’ve always paid close attention to. I want my pieces to be fun and interesting, but to have a timeless quality. I’ve been playing around recently with a different surface texture, which I create by roughing up the clay with a wooden tool, and have been loving seeing how the glazes interact with it.
5. Apart from making beautiful sculptural ceramics, what do you like to do for fun?
I love catching up with friends, gardening, going for walks with my dog Freda and going to the beach (bring on summer)!
6. What’s next for you and Clae studios?
I have plans to explore working with new clay, textures, glaze and colours - it’s lots of fun to experiment!
