Hannah McAndrew & Douglas Fitch

Ceramicist

©Kim Ayres

Passionate for pots

Hannah and Doug each make their own pots
Patience and determination is their technical secret
They founded their workshop in 2013

Hannah McAndrew and Douglas Fitch became business and life partners in 2013, working from the workshop in their rural timber house garden located in Galloway, Scotland. However, both were already well established and internationally acclaimed potters by then; Hannah studied three-dimensional design, where she was encouraged by a tutor to work with clay and went on to do a two-year apprenticeship with potter Jason Shackleton. Doug had collected medieval pottery fragments when fieldwalking as part of his school archaeological society and enrolled in a ceramics course at Derby College. Out of red earthenware clay, decorated with a self-imposed restricted palette of coloured slips and honey glazes, Doug makes large wheel-thrown jugs and Hannah specialises in slip casting and trailing.

Interview

©Kim Ayres

©Kim Ayres

Did you learn from pottery masters?: Hannah: I was an apprentice to Jason Shackleton, where I learned the techniques of slip trailing, sgraffito and the use of the naked flame in a wood fired kiln. Doug has worked closely with a number of potters since leaving college.
How has collaborating changed the way you work?: Hannah: Most often Doug and I make our own pots, from start to finish. Sometimes we collaborate and help each other. Working with someone else around who understands why and how you do what you do is a revelation.
What is your studio like?: Doug: We work from a timber building in the garden of our timber house. It started as two metal cabins which we have converted and clad; now it is full of our equipment and pots at every stage along with some of our collection of old pots that inspire us.
How important are tradition and innovation in your work?: Doug: We are clearly influenced by pots made centuries ago. We use this as inspiration but aim to not make reproductions of these pots. We want to take the aspects that we love and give them our own voice to make them relevant to today and to us.

Hannah McAndrew & Douglas Fitch are expert artisans: they began their career in 2003