Member Focus: James Mouat on doing his crackle thing at Sunken Studio

“It’s the people in the studio that make it such a great place to keep coming back to.” (James Mouat, member, Sunken Studio)

Photo credit: Joanne Crawford

Sunken Studio’s June 2023 Open Day celebrated our creative and diverse pottery studio members. We caught up with member James Mouat – who demonstrated his crackle technique on the day – to find out more about his process, and discover how far Yorkshire’s largest independent ceramics studio has come in the past year. 

For any maker, having the chance to go deep into your personal interest is the thing. It’s what it’s all about. Nerding out over processes, getting overexcited about glazes, being full-on focused on the method you’re trying to perfect… And, at Sunken Studio, people get the chance to really get into their thing. 

“My mission has always been to build a buoyant community full of people making different personal, creative and ceramic journeys,” explains Rebecca Catterall, who founded Sunken Studio in 2016. 

One member who’s really getting into a personal, creative, ceramic journey is James Mouat. He’d barely touched a lump of clay until October 2022. But in June 2023, he delivered a demo at the Sunken Studio Open Day. He showed people his technique of applying sodium silicate to pieces on the potter’s wheel to result in ruptured, cracked pots that demand to be touched and admired. 

Pottery for work-life balance

James works as a game designer and director, and has discovered that pottery is the perfect way for him to unwind from his job. “While I deeply enjoy my career for what it is, it is a very long, very slow, very intangible process,” he explains. “It can take several years for a project I’m involved with to come to completion, and it’s never truly a creation you can put your hands on and appreciate in a visceral sort of way.” That’s why his hobbies – photography, woodturning, and now pottery – are all hands-on, requiring a physical connection, and with him as the only person involved in the process. “These personal creative outlets have been a vital way to balance the high-stress nature of my professional life.”

As a Sunken Studio member, James can access our Leeds-based ceramic studio by pre-booking a wheel at a time that suits him. “I’m in the studio like it’s my second job,” he admits, “partly due to the fundamental joy of making, but also to help with stress. I tend to be in the studio four or five times a week.”

“The studio is busier than it’s ever been. Our members are moving their practices forward at faster rates. They play, research and go deep into specific interests.” (Rebecca Catterall, founder, Sunken Studio)

Photo credit: Joanne Crawford

A ceramic community

James learns a lot from being in our Leeds-based studio: “The thing I appreciate most is the value of community and working alongside other potters, and the constant refreshing energy it gives back to me. While the act of creating my work is satisfying, it’s the ability to share ideas and see the passions of others that has elevated my experience here. It’s amazing how open and giving potters tend to be with their skill, sharing a wealth of information when you ask them about their work.” This sense of community, coworking and collaboration is a key foundation of Sunken Studio, and why James has been able to progress his skills so quickly in a short space of time.  

“My practice has gone from understanding the fundamentals of throwing on the wheel – which was a real effort, pock-marked with so many mistakes and failures – to beginning to explore expressive styles that I find interesting and exciting,” says James. “I’m drawn to creating texture in thrown pots, and find the flexibility and malleability of the medium liberating.” 

James calls it refreshing – and the energy in Sunken Studio is definitely different. “I came to explore an interest in a new hobby, but it’s been the people in the studio that make it such a great place to keep coming back to,” he reveals. “The staff are awesome, filled with an incredible amount of knowledge and experience they want to share. The other members are friendly, and a constant source of inspiration. I’ve spent many hours just talking with various members about their work and exchanging ideas. And even the people who are coming in for their first class are filled with positivity and energy – it’s really enjoyable to be able to witness on a regular basis.”

Photo credit: Joanne Crawford

Space to play

At Sunken Studio, makers have time, space, and the resources to experiment, develop ideas, and play. And people who went to our Open Day on 3 June were able to soak up some of this atmosphere, as well as explore the studio space, chat to members, see makes and watch demos. 

It feels a long way away from last year’s Open Day. Membership numbers have since doubled, our team has worked hard on studio upgrades, and there’s been investment in two new kilns, more storage, two more wheels, and a jigger jolly arm. 

But around the time of the 2022 Open Day, there were times when there were more team members than members. “Sometimes it was empty, and felt empty,” says Rebecca. “Now, the studio is busier than it’s ever been. It’s rarely empty, and our members are moving their practices forward at faster rates. They play, research and go deep into specific interests. This growth has been important economically, culturally and socially.” 

“I’m drawn to creating texture in thrown pots, and find the flexibility and malleability of the medium liberating.” (James Mouat, member, Sunken Studio)

Time to experiment

The Open Day offered the chance to celebrate how creative, diverse and invested Sunken Studio members are, and to see how collaborative problem-solving has moved things forward; not least for members like James, who’s not afraid to experiment. Testing glazes on different clay bases, experimenting with copper and manganese washes, leaving cracked clay unglazed and raw, designing and manufacturing tools to help him and other members in the studio… Just some of the fun James has had over the past seven months since he first got messy with clay. 

“I seem to have picked up a reputation for being the one doing weird and experimental things,” he says. “While they aren’t all successes, I do enjoy when I’m able to learn something someone else wants to know more about, and being able to give them that information so they can get started experimenting with a new thing too.”

James loves sharing what he’s learned with others. At the Open Day he demonstrated his crackle technique, along with showing people a patterned roller technique which creates interesting, unexpected-looking pots.

“Adding texture and disrupting the throwing process has really captured my focus,” he explains. “Neither of the methods I’m using – using rollers to deliver texture, and applying sodium silicate while throwing the pot on the wheel – are new ideas. I’ve been exposed to other potters’ ideas of how to create surface texture on pots, and have picked up these concepts from them to explore for myself.” James describes his crackle technique as a high-wire act – it’s delightful and wonderful when things go well – as evidenced by the gasps of delight from the people watching his Open Day demo. But there can also be spectacular failures where pots unexpectedly rip open when a crack expands, and the entire pot is ruined.

Photo credit: Joanne Crawford

Leeds studio open day

Visitors watched James demo this process in action at our June 2023 Open Day, where they also met the team, checked out members’ makes, learned more about membership, listened to talks and took part in collaborative drop-in workshops. To find out more about future events, sign up to our mailing list.