WINTER FLOWERS

In the Autumn of 2015 we decided to embark on a journey with Jono Smart. Having approached Jono at the beginning of the year to work with us as one of our Makers, we knew how he liked to approach his practice.  Both Jono and ourselves felt it was time to go all out on a collaborative project; this was the start of
‘Winter Flowers’. 

'Winter Flowers' is a project based on the seasonal turn, a celebration of the Winter months through making, foraging and curating. We wanted to work together to produce a set of ceramics that would sing the praises of the turning seasons. Jono focused on natural colouring found in the Winter palette, while we foraged from the Somerset hedgerows for the last burst of life before the plants rest. 

A necessity for vessels to harbour foraged foliage became apparent and so we made the decision to produce 4 large vases, a multitude of stem vases and two special plinths. Jono’s enthusiasm is infectious, so when he said ‘let’s fill the studio floor with small vases’, we said ‘why not’.

Being in touch with the seasons has been engrained in us for as long as we can remember, watching the cycle of new growth in Spring right through to the falling leaves in Autumn has always been fascinating to watch. We love that last push at the end of Summer that runs on to the cold bite of Winter when the hedgerows are brimming with the last touches of colour.  

‘Winter Flowers’ culminated in day spent at Jono’s studio, arranging the clippings we had gathered into and along side his vases. We had a great time tackling this project together, it gave us all space to play. Jono went wild with his vases, making as many as he could in the short amount of time we had left to forage before Winter closed in.