Alison West

From her studio in Chagford, Dartmoor, Alison West creates natural and thoughtfully produced tableware and vessels to cherish forever. She creates an environment of combustible materials that will use the fire as a painter uses a brush to create a natural surface pattern.

Alison’s ceramics are SAGGAR FIRED, a process in which pots are placed in a gas kiln in a container (a saggar) together with locally sourced combustible materials ranging from pine cones, beech nuts, grasses, fungi, ferns, seaweed, wood shavings and naturally occurring minerals. Throughout the firing, the vapours of the ignited materials permeate the ware creating unique and natural pattern and decoration made entirely from these ingredients. Vases and vessels are wheel-thrown porcelain or Cornish Stoneware and saggar fired with plants that leave impressions on the pots. These are sealed inside to hold water.

Alison’s tableware range is made from Cornish Stoneware clay. It is high-fired, durable, functional, sealed with a non-toxic, food-safe, sealer that transforms unglazed ware into waterproof, highly stain-resistant and dishwasher-proof tableware. Alison is also developing a new gunmetal glazed range of tableware made in Cornish Stoneware and Dartmoor hardwood ash glaze.