Green Pottery and a Passion for Green Ceramic
April 6, 2009 
5 Comments
In a world run by large corporations it’s refreshing to see that small businesses can still thrive and carve out an niche using genuine arts and crafts along with good old hard work. RJH Ceramics based in Manchester, England is a prime example of how one persons passion for creating green pottery can create a thriving small business.
Rachel Jane Holland Ceramics
Working from her studio in Carrington (South Manchester, England) Rachel Jane Holland creates a range of hand thrown earthenware ceramics. She started by throwing forms to decorate, and decoration is still one of her passions. Whilst at college in Manchester she was influenced greatly by traditional 18th Century European pottery.
Her work also has echoes of the ‘Arts and Crafts’ era, with trailing leaf designs and bold text adorning many of her pieces.
Rachel hand mixes a unique blend of earthenware clays for her work, combining the rich color and texture of the red clay with the strong creamy consistency of the white. Each piece is embellished with an individually designed organic pattern, inspired by the local English flora and fauna.
Her range includes a collection of green ceramic plates, bowls, bottles, beakers and jugs. The designs are created by sgraffito; drawing through white slip to reveal the red clay body beneath. They are hand painted with an all natural palette of slips and stains.
Rachel takes commissions for all occasions from all over England, her creations make wonderful gifts for weddings, birthdays and anniversaries. She will take your favorite images and poetry and incorporate them to make unique eco friendly green pottery gift.
You can view more of her work and order commision pieces through her website;
I always thought that the making of ceramic wares and tiles are not environmental friendly due to the high energy requirements during the heating process. How is “green ceramic” different from conventional ceramic in terms of environmental friendliness?
Ben – thanks for your interest in this post, you are correct in stating that in most cases the production of ceramic wares uses alot of energy however, RJH Ceramics are a very small company and have made extra efforts to ensure that their firing process is much more energy efficient than larger mass produced ceramic and earthenware companies. Rachel uses a compact kiln which is only operated as required and all of her materials are bought from local suppliers. The red clay comes from local clay pits and therefore very little transportation is required before the raw materials are crafted into finished pieces.
It is a very nice and good post. Keep up the good work.
This green pottery post has given me a whole new idea for business. Thanks a lot for a sparking idea.
- Annabella
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