A MARRIED couple with a lifelong fairytale romance have built a career from their passion for pottery - and now have a unique opportunity to sell it at Yorkshire Sculpture Park.
Matt and Catherine West, originally from the town centre and Silkstone respectively, share a love story that could be turned into a film.
Meeting as teenagers, the couple travelled across the country together for university studies before settling back down in Sheffield.
Matt, 36, told the Chronicle: “We met at Cannon Hall Farm’s shop where we used to work.
“We both studied at Leeds College of Arts and then went on to do our degrees in London at Goldsmiths University.
“Since we’ve been young we’ve always followed similar paths and gone the same places.
“When we ended up in Sheffield we decided to do pottery, just as a bit of fun.
“We got hooked on it - we started in our mid-20s and gradually realised that it was something we could see ourselves doing.
“Over time we made it work as our career - it’s a really satisfying job.”
Establishing the company Pottery West, based at the Yorkshire Artspace in Sheffield, the couple specialises in household products.
Now, the Artspace studio has announced a partnership with Yorkshire Sculpture Park, to allow 17 local artists to display and sell their work within the tourist site.
“The team at Yorkshire Sculpture Park are great,” Matt added.
“They always support crafts people, especially from the local area.
“Working in the art space has been good - it’s nice to be existing in the same place as other crafters.
“While we still all mostly work independently, you get to be part of that community that extends beyond pottery with jewellers, silversmiths, and many others.
“A lot of the time it’s not easy to make money with crafts, so we can talk and share our experiences and details on how we work.
“With the other potters though it’s especially useful - we’ll often fire the kiln together and can share ideas.”
Out of the 17 artists getting displayed, there are potters like Matt and 35-year-old Catherine, ceramists, metal workers and plenty more.
Visitors to the park will be able to see the showcase of their work until October.
Amanda Peach, Yorkshire Sculpture Park’s retail programme and development manager, said: “The sculpture park is well known for supporting up and coming talents from Yorkshire, and this exciting collaboration with Yorkshire Artspace allows us to support 17 artists all at once.
“We think our visitors will appreciate the huge variety of skills on display and ultimately help support some of Yorkshire’s most talented makers and artists.”
