Mary Sewell, Ceramics
Who are you and what do you do?
I’m Mary Sewell, and I’m a ceramic artist who works at Portland Works, where I’ve been for about 15 years. I used to be a painter but moved into working more three-dimensionally. About three years ago, I bought a kiln, and now I fire my own sculptures and work.
Where is your studio, and why is it important to your creative process?
Portland Works is an old cutlery works, and there have been lots of changes in the 15 years since I’ve been here, so I’ve sort of grown with it as an artist. It’s a very old Victorian building, very textured with lots of old brickwork, and apparently, the first place that produced stainless steel. It’s an inspiring place to work.
View this post on Instagram
Are there other people nearby that you work with, or is it important that you’re on your own?
I work quite on my own quite a lot, but it is obviously a shared space, so there will be breaks for conversations and chats with others, which is nice.
How is the studio set up, and how do you use the space in your practice?
Everybody has their own part of the studio to work in. My bit consists of a large worktable where I build my sculptures. There’s also a kiln in the corner where I fire the sculptures, behind which you’ll find shelves displaying my work.
Are there any tools or bits of machinery in your studio that may be of interest?
The kiln is used to fire pieces, which I usually do twice over. Then there a lot of interesting tools for making the actual pieces – maybe I’ll do a demonstration with those during Open Up!
