So what's pressed brick then?

Let's get technical ...

Just call me Miss Terracotta...

I've have been awarded a Churchill 
Travelling Fellowship!!! 


This changes everything....

The project of my imagining is:
Architectural Terracotta: 

An exploration of Transatlantic Opportunity


105 Churchill Fellows have been selected from 942 applicants. And I'm one of them! Stunned and gratefully so.

I'm being fully funded to spend 8 weeks travelling across the UK and the USA. It's all about clay as a key material for building, understanding applications and techniques in the past and for the future.


I'll be meeting the key makers, the huge manufacturers as well as the creative independents, the architects and commissioning bodies who choose this exciting material to adorn our urban landscape with. I'm making all my own travel plans and contacts and have the doors wide open to all working in the industry in both continents.


This fantastic opportunity gives me an unique insight into the industry to understand first hand the differences in the uses of terracotta in the US compared to here. I'll be finding out about historic methods of making and how they've changed over the years. I'm also excited to learn about the innovative new techniques and what opportunities technology offer and how they change the end product and how terracotta can be applied.

I'm visiting:
Chicago - the birthplace of the skyscraper - this city is built of terracotta
New York - I'll visit all the major terracotta sites and meet the major manufactures and architectural bodies based in NYC, including Shaws of Darwen, a large UK company.
San Francisco - I'll meet independent makers and ceramicists here
Sacremento - Visit Gladding McBean - one of the largest and oldest manufacturers still in business

I’ll be posting photos and stories of what I find throughout my travels and experiences here. Save this blog. And get involved if you'd like to... please leave comments and join me on my journey….

When I arrive back, in September, I'll be arranging talks and presentations across the country to share what I've found and get everyone as exciting about terracotta as I am. 
If you would like to be involved or contribute to my research, host a presentation, or would like to be invited to any events, I’d be happy to hear from you. Please email me to register your interest: amyfrankiesmith@gmail.com

Must go, I have a travels to plan and exciting people and places to see and meet!

Studio Projects

I'm getting my hands dusty with clay and plaster this week. I forget how much I love the stuff! I've got a couple of projects that have been lining up so it has felt good to get them moving... and hopefully out the door to get on with the next!

Sunflower Seeds

And FINALLY before getting a spot of lunch and catching my train back to the coast my final stop at the Tate Modern was not to disappoint...

100 million porcelain sunflower seeds were made and hand painted in the Chinese City of Jingdezhen to lie on the Turbine Hall floor. Outstanding.

First visit to the New Ceramics Gallery - V&A

Eventually I arrived on the 6th floor of the V&A to see the Ceramics. Its not easy to find... I'd made my way up to the 4th floor to discover the lift doesn't go any higher! So down I went, back to the Informatin Desk to get a different lift up to the lofty 6th floor!


Worth the trip, although I did wonder how many people actually make it there...