Ella Phillips Ceramics at The Forge Pottery is situated in the village of Cheddar, just a short walk from the gorge and caves.

The building I work from was previously the Blacksmiths workshop of my father, Peter Phillips.

I have fond memories of life growing up here and visiting my dad working at the Forge and Anvil with the nostalgic sounds of a blacksmith at work that rang out when he was there.

I take pride in following in his footsteps as a Traditional Craft practitioner and being able to now use his Workshop as my Pottery.

I started my journey in Ceramics over 20 yrs ago when I found my love of clay at Strode college under the tuition of Pauline Watson.

After deciding this was definitely a path, I wanted to pursue, I did a Degree in ceramics at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff.

Since then, I have worked as a production potter for several other businesses. I was fortunate to get the opportunity to be one of the first few apprentices at the Leach Pottery St Ives when it was re established early 2000; it was a real cultural pottery hub where I was able to learn so much from the lead potter and my colleagues.

After leaving the leach pottery, I decided to focus on making my own work, based on the traditional Country Pottery of the UK, using Terracotta Clay and Coloured Slips for decoration.

I continue to make Slipware; I love both the process and the contrast between the brightly coloured Clay Slips and the rich unglazed surface of the terracotta Clay.

I design and make all of my pieces whilst reflecting on the traditional English Slipware. I also like to incorporate simplistic contemporary forms for domestic function.

Students who attend my classes will be working with terracotta clay and slipware techniques.