Hi! I’m Holly of HOAT Ceramics. I was born and raised in South Africa in a little Seaside town and it was here that I first got my hands on some clay at the age of 8 where I did pottery lessons for about a year before my teacher very rudely up and moved to Canada! I didn’t touch clay again for 20 years until I had moved to the UK.

I had LOVED clay and had thought about starting up lessons again for years but it was not until 2017 when I decided to take it up again. Under the careful guidance of the incredible Fran Tristram in Lady Bay, Nottingham, I jumped straight back into it and was hooked again immediately. I plodded along for a few years until the pandemic hit and Fran gave us each some clay to keep us busy and then I went truly bonkers for clay!

In 2021 Fran retired and very kindly passed on all her equipment to me and at that point there was no going back! I decided to make ceramics my thing. It was a full year however until I was brave enough to turn the kiln on. The thought of having a 1300 degree oven burning in the garage directly under my bedroom freaked me out no end! After some great advice and guidance from a few other local potters 2022 was the year I worked up the courage and in december 2022 HOAT Ceramics officially came to life!

A lot of my work is heavily inspired by the ocean, full of wobbly lines and beautiful curves. My motto is if you want straight lines in your ceramics you can go to IKEA because I love organic shapes and the beauty that hand building offers. I’m forever impressed with production throwers and their ability to make perfect geometric forms but that’s not what speaks to me. Wether it’s finding the perfect curve on one of my fat ladies bottoms or making the rims wobbly in one of my ramen bowls, adding a bit of wobble is what brings me joy, and I hope it will bring you a bit of joy too.