This week, as part of the London Design Festival and the Shoreditch Design Triangle, our Redchurch Street branch is displaying a fantastic ceramic shaving set hand-crafted by Central Saint Martins graduate Charlotte McLeish.
Offically running between the 14th-22nd September, the London Design Festival is now in its 5th consecutive year. The event brings together a fascinating collection of designers, stores, galleries, studios, cafes, bars, brands and one-off events for a week of design-led festivities.
We caught up with Charlotte as she brought along her work to find out more about her creative path so far and what taking part in the festival means to fellow professionals:
You began working at your family’s jewellery business and then turned your attention towards ceramic design. What made you decide to change fields?
The shop was in Birmingham and I didn’t feel like I was really going anywhere and I just wanted a bit of a change. I really wanted to move to London and I’d already been down this way at university before. I did ceramics at Brighton and always missed it. I just had a mad Sunday of deciding to go back to uni, acknowledging that I needed to have a change and just going for it. I’ll go back to jewellery eventually, but this is what I want to be doing right now.
Can you tell us a little bit more about your work with ceramics so far?
The collection that I am displaying is very male oriented. I’ve never been a massive girly girl, and have always been drawn to more masculine style. I wanted to make a set of something and over the last few years male grooming has become huge, so it all came quite naturally.
How was your time at Central Saint Martins and the experience that you gained?
I absolutely loved it. They were the best three years of my life. Moving to London and going to uni was the best idea. The course was so great and the tutors to match, I can’t fault it at all. It was just a great experience.
How has the transition between student and working professional been for you?
There’s a lot to think about all the time. I’m currently juggling a part-time job and this. It’s strange when people suddenly start to recognise you for your work not as a person though, It’s great! There’s a lot to juggle – especially with Design Week, I would love to dedicate everything to my ceramic work and turn it into my full-time job officially. I’ll often be in the studio until midnight with people assuming that I must sleep there, so I think I’m on the right track.
There’s a distinct masculine tailored quality to your work – is this a significant intention for you?
I have had a lot of people approach me looking for me to make a women’s items, but I really want to get the men’s performing perfectly and working well before changing over. That’s where my interest really lies, in men’s accessories.
You draw a lot of inspiration from historical artefacts and antiques. How do you go about accessing such sources?
I’ve always been really interested in antiques, and working for the National Trust allowed me to look after a house and plenty of artefacts. It’s just always been a really keen interest of mine, and to sit down and look back on my work, it’s clear that loads of things have influenced me.
Do brands like Murdock draw a different kind inspiration?
The more traditional men’s tailoring theme ties into my interest with style from the 30s and 40s. It’s nice to see a modern take on such a strong concept, which for a contemporary brand is definitely interesting.
Talk us through your creation process. What kind of equipment is involved and where do you work?
I work in a studio in Bermondsey, but am soon to move further east soon which will be a new and exciting venture. I do everything on the wheel and all of my work is handmade. It’s a time consuming process but interesting work is created as a result.
How do you think your work will fair being on display in our barbershop?
It will be quite strange to have the work laid bare, with people looking at it without any explanation on my part, so it’ll be nice to get feedback and hear what people think. Being female, it’ll be interesting to gain some masculine opinions.
A sneak preview of Charlotte’s ceramic work within the Murdock environment.
Tell us more about The London Design Festival. How do people get involved and is it mainly young artists being featured?
It’s really quite a broad event actually. It’s really nice timing because it’s a few months after people have graduated. That does draw in a lot of young people, usually from universities. It’s definitely not just young people though; it’s for all ages really. Whatever kind of design you’re into, there’s something for everybody.
Generally the exhibitions I’m in I’ve been approached for which is quite nice. I’m fresh in people’s minds from graduate shows currently, but over time I’m probably going to have to start looking for the work! My graduate show was just amazing; everyone had really good feedback and people from the industry were there that you only ever know by name. Suddenly you’re talking to them which is just amazing.
You’re taking part in another exhibition for design week too. Could you tell us more about that project?
There are nine of us from Central Saint Martins. One girl did jewellery and the rest of us are ceramicists. We’re in The Do Shop in Covent Garden, who approached us to do a little exhibition on the trail. It’s nice to see how other people have progressed from university within a couple of months. They thought our graduate exhibition was great and said ‘why don’t you do something for us as well?’ It’s being labelled ‘The CSM Invasion’ as we’re taking over the bottom half of shop.
You can read more information about the event here and view Charlotte’s ceramic work at our Redchurch Street branch from now until the 22nd. Tonight is the festival’s late evening, and we will be staying open until 9pm.