Introducing Emily Mitchell: hand-painted ceramics, now at treowe

We are always drawn to makers who put real thought into what they make, and Emily Mitchell is one of them. We are so pleased to have her ceramics in the shop.

If you have not come across her work yet, here is a proper introduction.

Who is Emily Mitchell?

Emily Mitchell is a UK-based artist and ceramicist working from her studio in Norfolk. She makes hand-built, thrown and painted ceramics, and almost everything she makes carries a story.

That interest in story is where her work begins. Emily is drawn to the way everyday and historic objects hold their own histories, and she finds ideas in classic fiction and literature, as well as in museum collections and archives, where she spends time with older forms and techniques. She is especially taken with the idea of the souvenir: small, hand-sized pieces made to be held and kept, quietly loaded with meaning.

A love of Delftware, painted by hand

Emily has a particular fondness for early English Delftware, and it comes through in her own take on delft decoration. Each piece is hand painted with cobalt blue motifs and patterns, the sort of detail you only get when someone sits down and paints it themselves. She also enjoys the serendipity of how clay behaves, letting new designs find their shape through the making itself rather than forcing them into place.

Ceramics in the family

Emily's connection to the craft began at home. Her mother is the ceramicist Judith Onions, best known for her modernist redesign of the classic blue and white striped Cornishware for TG Green & Co. That lineage shows in Emily's own work. It is thoughtful and full of character, the kind of thing you keep and use rather than shelve.

See it in store and online

We have brought a selection of Emily's ceramics into the treowe shop, with more to come. Come and see them in person if you can. Hand-painted pieces like these reward a proper look, and they are made to be picked up and lived with.

If you would like a hand choosing something for your own home, or a gift for someone who would love it, that is exactly what we are here for. Pop in and say hello.