Katherine Smyth
“What I most enjoy is opening the kiln (as long as all has gone according to plan). A friend once described the kiln as a “magic box”. Maybe it could also be described as a transformer. Even though there is a certain level of predictability to how the work will turn out, every piece has its own character which is only truly clear on the final firing. I’m not a stickler for uniformity - which adds to the whole sense of information, discovery and ideally, reward.”
Hand thrown ceramics
We love...
We love the colours that decorate the table at ARTFOM, and from which customers then agonise over which of the blues to take hope to go with their existing green, pink and white. Loyal, return customers add to the collection a few times a year, a sign that what Katherine delivers is not just decorative, but also works and wears well. A table with Katherine Smyth tableware is a table you WANT to sit at. ARTFORM.
Currently in the gallery…
Feature
Katherine trained in ceramics at the National Art School in Sydney, Australia for 3 years from 1989 - 1991. For 8 years prior to this she had worked as a chef.
In 1993 she joined English potter, Jim Mason in Taibeh village (near ancient Petra), Jordan for several months. They taught pottery skills to young village women in the hope of reviving local ancient skills and traditions. Emphasis was on pottery made by the Nabateans (who built Petra) and other traditional potters from the region.
Katherine has been back to the Middle East a number of times since the first teaching job. In 1994 she accompanied a group of archaeologists from Sydney University to work on a Middle Bronze Age site at Rukeis in the North of Jordan.
From 1995 until 1998 she was based in London. She had studio space at Great Western Studios and cooked part-time at The Sugar Club restaurant in Notting Hill. Katherine designed and produced crockery for the restaurant and for Peter Gordon's first two cookbooks. She also designed and produced ware for The Union Cafe in Marylebone and the events company, Urban Productions.
In 1998 Katherine returned to New Zealand, basing herself in Wellington. She designed several ranges of domestic ware, one of which was for the homewares range of the Australian textile company, Cloth.
Katherine is currently doing a law degree along side her ceramic practice.