WILBUT

Wilbut was born almost as soon as we met, 3 years ago. One of our first conversations was realising we’d both been experimenting with clay in lockdown, Dave had bought a wheel and everything! 3 months later we’d moved in together and had a pottery studio in our spare bedroom.

Jess – My style is very sculptural, I find myself putting a lot of heart in to my pieces. It’s important to me because I believe in creating an emotive response. Nostalgia is a big influence of mine but also imagining future nostalgia, that kid who will pick up their aunties vase and secretly love it! Pottery is so beautiful for it’s longevity and it’s ability to connect generations.

Dave – I’ve been a woodworker for a number of years and still am really. It’s this interest in manufacturing and process is what most informs my style, I love drilling down into the details and making sure that that handle is the same diameter as the rim of the cup.. that sort of thing. I like making functional wares and I’d say my style is quite utilitarian and to the point. We’re quite different to each other when it comes to our personal styles but we think that’s what keeps Wilbut interesting!

Thankfully pottery as a craft is quite sustainable, everything we use comes from the earth.. Clay and water. All our pre-fired waste materials can be broken down in water and eventually turned back into clay so it’s a very circular process. Anything that isn’t up to scratch after our firings is usually broken into pieces and used for drainage in our plant pots.

We are currently working from the attic room of our Victorian terraced house we bought last year. Betsy, our kiln, lives in the basement.

In general, we try to only do what we can do right now and not beat ourselves up about it. We both work alongside Wilbut so time is precious. For us selling anything is a massive bonus but enjoying the process and being happy with what we make is more important. Moving to stockport has been a really positive thing for us! The independent community here has been really supportive and that helps when you’re trying to get your name about.

Make, test, make, treasure, sell! Now we have a full studio set up and our own kiln we plan to use the next few months making and perfecting. Jess has been working on some sculptural lamps which we’re really excited about! Personally I have been experimenting with porcelain which is an amazing material and I’m hoping to make some more cups and teapots. We’ve also just launched our website, it’s a bit rough and ready design wise at the moment so apologies to all of you early visitors… Hopefully it’ll be as polished as our pots soon!