Masterclass with Leela Chakravarti

I grew up in rural Hertfordshire, surrounded by fields of wheat and old thatched cottages. My childhood was spent roaming the countryside, watching deer and rabbits in the garden and studying the quiet lives of woodlice and snails. Indoors, I loved to draw, paint and lose myself in storybooks full of magic and adventure.

I went on to study Marine Biology at Plymouth University, beginning 10 years in science that took me to Canada and then Australia where pottery began for me. I was studying for a PhD, researching coral reefs and climate change, when I joined the North Queensland Potter’s Association in 2016. There, under the guidance of Edward O’Brien, I learnt how to throw, f ire gas kilns and make glazes. I also dabbled with soda and wood firings. Pottery quickly grew into an obsession and I began teaching, exhibiting and selling my work.

After completing my PhD in 2019, I turned down a science job to pursue pottery full-time. While I had loved being a marine biologist, pottery had deeply taken root. A year later, I returned to the UK during lockdown and set up a tiny, temporary studio in my dad ’s garden shed, working with a small plug-in electric kiln and homemade raku kiln. Some months later, I moved to Devon, a place of deep nostalgia and adventure that I had loved since many childhood holidays and my early university days.

My studio was a converted piggery, overlooking the rolling hills of patchwork farmland. Exploring the valley, I discovered a stream with exposed banks of clay. I could collect it, pull out any stones, throw with it on the wheel and f ire it successfully. This discovery marked the start of my wild clay journey.

I later settled in a small village on Dartmoor, where I now work from an old stone barn. Alongside my electric kiln, I f ire with gas and wood at nearby Kigbeare Studios, where I have become part of a local pottery community. Wild clay continues to shape my work and I have collected it from across Devon and beyond.

I am drawn to wild clay for the way I feel connected to the land. I love the sense of being part of a creative continuum of pottery that stretches back thousands of years. Combining this ancient tradition with illustrative, story telling decorations inspired by my surroundings, grounds my work in the present.

In this masterclass, I will show how I collect and test wild clay to determine its suitability for throwing and firing. I will also demonstrate my decorating process, using stencils and wild clay slips of contrasting clays to create surfaces that tell a story.

For more details visit leelachakravarti.com; @leelapottery