Hand made ceramics by artist and maker Katie Coston – Illyria Pottery. Created in her Oxfordshire cottage studio, with a large window over looking a farmers field to let light flood in, this space is she says ‘A beautiful peaceful place to make’.

Since she was a girl Katie has been fascinated by natural objects and their textures.

 

‘I’ve always loved finding tiny objects, whether in a forest or on a beach. Now I incorporate these items into my work, mimicking their organic qualities or directly impressing them into the clay.’

 

Whilst not all that Katie makes is expressly functional, in the pieces that are intended for use she seeks to elevate their function—to connect beauty to everyday life. In an era of disposables, Katie hopes that as her work joins daily rituals, she’s making those traditions and routines more significant and perhaps more permanent, as each piece has the possibility of outlasting her and the initial collector.

 

Katie opened the first iteration of Illyria Pottery in Greenville, South Carolina in 2008. From 2009-2010 she was the artist-in-residence at The Gallery Upstairs and Torquil in Henley-in-Arden, UK. In 2012, she and her husband moved to Oxford for him to read for a DPhil in English Literature.  Katie launched her own brick-and-mortar shop in Jericho, creating everything for her in her studio downstairs, along with a beautiful bespoke environment to display her work.

 

After 7 years and with a baby on the way, Katie closed the shop, started the next phase of Illyria, and makes from her cottage studio in rural Oxfordshire.

 

Katie holds a Bachelor of Science in Art Education and an MA in Three-Dimensional Studio Art.