Emily Gasquoine Miniature Ceramics
Every tiny pot I make is unique, and produced in exactly the same process as a life-size pot. First I throw them in batches on my mini wheel using stoneware clay, then dry and sand them before bisque-firing slowly for 12 hours at 1000 degrees. Once they’re cooled I apply glaze, clean them, and fire again, this time to 1220 degrees. Some go through even more decoration after that and a third firing. End-to-end production takes about 3 weeks, working in batches. So each tiny pot is a big labour of love!
I started making miniature pottery in 2022 after seeing an article about Cielo Marie Vianzon’s dolls house scale pottery in the ‘Shrunk’ miniatures magazine. I was mesmerised and desperately wanted to learn, but I’d not touched clay since my teens and had never learned to throw. A few weeks later my partner surprised me with a mini pottery wheel for my birthday. I set it up on the dining table, got some clay from a local pottery studio and started teaching myself using YouTube videos.
Hundreds of tiny pots and a house move later, I now have a little pottery studio and a kiln at home. I get to have complete control over the production process, which allows me to work with different clays and glazes and firing methods. It’s an ongoing process of experimentation and I’m on tenterhooks every time I open the kiln to see how everything comes out.
I still love Cielo’s work, and follow many miniature and human-scale potters on social media. Seeing their work keeps me challenging myself to try new forms, techniques, materials and decorating styles.
In 2023 I came to Miniatura as a visitor and loved meeting the makers and seeing their incredible work. I’d brought a few of my tiny pots in my handbag and showed them to a few people, including the organiser Andy Hopwood (son of the renowned miniature potter Muriel Hopwood, another inspiration!) and they were all wonderfully encouraging. It’s so nice to share this love of miniatures. And that is how I have come to have a stall at Miniatura myself this year – I’m very excited to show my pots in public for the first time and look forward to meeting more fellow lovers of tiny things.
