Very good women
As a reward for hard work Sonia took me to Heath Ceramics yesterday – a factory producing tiles and ceramic tableware, founded fifty years ago by Edith Heath. Edith was a fascinating woman. She found a source of clay, developed glazes, and made forms so elegant and practical that many of her originals are still produced today. The material they use still comes from that first clay pit. Edith lived on a houseboat. Space was limited. She needed to hang her cups rather than put them on a shelf. It annoyed her that they hung at a variety of angles, so she decided to design a mug that hung straight. After our tour of the factory, I was sorely tempted by these elegant mugs. Our guide was Lisa Bookstein, HR manager, and by coincidence, a mosaicist, who has great success with her mosaics of marine creatures (‘I’m not sure how I feel about being known as “The Turtle Lady” ’ she told us). Lisa was generous with her time and knowledge, which seems to be part of the Heath sensibility. As we toured, Catherine Bailey, co-owner of Heath, was showing round master craftsman Edward Wohl. Ed’s cutting boards are stocked in the shop. With his white beard and wiry frame, he looked like a pioneer – a man born to understand wood. During the making of Made in England, I have visited many potteries. This one shares, along with Burslem’s wonderful Burgess, Dorling and Leigh, a particular sense of belief in their past and commitment to their future.
Sonia found the turquoise glazes very alluring. She has been using this colour in a wonderful series of mosaics titled ‘Nebula Aqua’ for a San Francisco home. Each ‘nebula’ is made from mineral specimens, glass fusions, beads, shell, smalti, stone, and a wealth of materials of similar hue. Sonia’s real interest is in texture, and the reflective properties of the tesserae. The mosaics sparkle and glint as you move. Having seen them at a number of different times of day, I noticed that as the light fades, the shine from the curved glass diminishes, and the light cast by the opalescent material increases. The effect is impressively mutable. Set into black mortar, they sit on a granular rendered wall. Setting these elements is technically very difficult. The edges of the nebulae alone are masterpieces.
Best photos of Nebula yet. Appreciate the comments about how different elements reflect differently. Makes the piece alive, doesn’t it?
Yes, it’s a shame I can’t show it at night. I don’t have a photo that does it justice.
Lovely stuff!
Great to see your blog (thanks, Sonia!).
Heath Ceramics is where I taught my first mosaic workshops, in 1992. Lisa Bookstein switched from full-time head hunting to mosaics after taking a couple of ‘GroutCamps’ at my farm in ‘96 – ‘98 & I’m pleased to see her teaching mosaics these days at Heath!
As for Edith, she was not only a great innovator, but quite a character!
The first time I set foot in the place was after being called by one of her designers inviting me to come get free tile. Apparently Edith had seen pictures of my work & liked it. Before I knew what hit me, I’d spent 1/2 an hour helping Edith & her sister haul boxes of tile from one room to another (I’m sure they were in their late 70’s or 80’s).
When I finally got a chance to mention those free tiles, Edith’s reply was, “What you really should do is come in & I’ll teach you how to make cement planters. They’ll sell a lot better than those FLAT things you make!”
She then asked if I’d mind coming in to do a demo in their showroom some Saturday…to which I said yes. Next thing I knew – with no further discussion – she had a sign-up list for people who wanted to take a series of Saturday mosaic classes. I was quite surprised to find out the teacher was me!
Thanks Emma for such a full circle post, I’m so glad the timing worked out with you and Sonia. Elizabeth, I love that story!