Emily Leonard, artist, ceramicist and founder of Gabbro, welcome.
Following her formative years in Bristol, Emily studied Drawing and Applied Arts, at degree level specialising in printmaking, and later completed an MA in Professional Theatre Design at Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Several years followed working as a freelance theatre designer and a period of living in Glasgow.
The journey from the graphic language of print making and the spatial and material language of theatre design to ceramics brings a continuity, different disciplines, yet connected, a communication of ideas.
In 2022 Emily moved to the Isle of Skye. Three years later founded Spindrift Croft, sowing and growing cut flowers. This year training as a firefighter and founding, Gabbro, her pottery studio.
Emily comes with the three Cs, community, conjoint, creative and a present day commitment to island life, her community, and of her own accord walking the line for the residents of Skye and visitors.
I am drawn to the rigour and precision in Emily’s work, against the physical uncertainty of the maker’s hand, clay, glaze, experiment and firing. The beauty and perfection in her ceramic forms are only the starting point, they also offer up an invitation to take time, time to discover connections as we had once done before the advent of the big cloud.
Connections between process and material, intention and chance, the dialogue between the maker and the maker’s mark, more than a signature, a mark with past and purpose, a mark and desire to locate her work in the landscape.
Emily’s maker’s mark, the Ordnance Survey benchmark gifts the metaphor, the map, a fixed point in the landscape, its opposite, creativity, curiosity and movement, for this creative perhaps necessary counterparts existing simultaneously.
And for stillness. Anon.
The intimacy of Emily’s handmade objects is utterly compelling, when the act of making meets and discovers uncertainty, possibility, memory and craft we experience the personal narratives evident in this maker’s hand.
Beneath the precision of Emily’s forms lies a more complex intellectual enquiry into authorship, material, identity and place. Quiet forms to be read and lived with, carrying a desire to explore meaning and connection in the landscape. The spellbinding nature of Emily's work has been cast.
Emily Leonard, artist, graphic designer, theatre designer, fire fighter, slow runner, flower grower, ceramicist, collaborator, is my guest on this series of Don’t Overthink It. The aim, to connect with Creatives on the Isle of Skye and discover their who, what, why and more.
Don’t Overthink It - Emily Leonard
1. Gabbro, what’s in the name and why?
Emily: Gabbro is name of the rock that makes up much of the Cuillin Ridge here on Skye. I love spending time in the hills and I wanted a name that felt connected to the place where I live and make, without being too literal. I liked that it was something solid, natural and very rooted in the island.
2. Your connection to the Isle of Skye where and when did it begin?
Emily: I moved to Skye around five years ago, having grown up in Bristol. I think my connection to it has developed quite slowly through living here rather than arriving with a grand idea of what island life would be. It’s a brilliant place to live, I feel very lucky to have ended up here.
3. Your one word to describe the Isle of Skye, what is it?
Emily: Dramatic. The landscape, the weather, the light. Everything can change so quickly here, which is part of what makes it such an interesting place to live.
4. It’s summer on the Isle of Skye, the wind and rain horizontal, you are standing in your favourite place, where is it and what are you listening to?
Emily: When the weather turns in the summer, you’ll often find me hiding in the polycrub. I love the sound of the rain on the roof, and you get to feel like you’re still outside without actually getting soaked.
5. Today, tomorrow, yesterday, what inspires you to create?
Emily: I’m a natural problem solver and I don’t respond particularly well to a completely open brief, so having constraints is often a good starting point for me. It might be trying to make a cup that feels just right to hold, or getting the proportions of a pot right while still making sure it fulfils its purpose. That balance between form and function is a big part of what I enjoy about the process.
6. Yes, or no?
Emily: Yes – I say yes too much. Probably why I’m so busy.
7. How is this Creative serving the community of the Isle of Skye?
Emily: In a few different ways, I suppose. I’m a retained firefighter as well as a designer, flower grower and potter, so being part of and contributing to the community here takes different forms. On Skye, if something needs doing, there are simply fewer people around to do it than there would be in a city, so it’s quite normal for people to have multiple jobs and play different roles within the community
8. Unpack your maker’s mark for Gabbro?
Emily: My maker’s mark is based on a benchmark, a symbol you find carved into rocks and buildings by cartographers to mark points of known elevation. I’ve always loved maps, so the idea that each pot leaves Skye carrying its own tiny benchmark makes me very happy.
9. What comes first the idea or hands-on clay?
Emily: I’m a planner, so it’s almost always the idea first. But it’s the translation from paper to a physical object that brings new challenges and ideas. The making inevitably changes the original plan, so I suppose it ends up being a bit of both.
10. What is the significance of ‘tread lightly’ in your practice?
Emily: I’m very conscious that once clay is fired, it’s here for a very long time. That permanence is one of the amazing things about pottery, we can still hold and learn from pots made thousands of years ago! But it also comes with a responsibility; if I’m going to create another object and put it out into the world, I want it to have a purpose and bring value to the person who owns it. That’s something I try to keep in mind whenever I’m making.
11. What brings the freedom, joy, and stillness, describe yourself in those moments?
Emily: The right to roam gives me a huge sense of freedom living here. I’m probably happiest out walking with friends and their dogs, with no particular reason to be anywhere else. Joy tends to come from the small, quiet moments. Stillness, though, is a work in progress. I’m generally far too busy to be still at the moment.
12. What book are you reading or writing or listening to?
Emily: I listen to a lot of audiobooks. A good one I’ve listened to recently was When the Cranes Fly South by Lisa Ridzén.
13. What lies and reveals itself in the landscape to connect your work to place?
Emily: I think everything we make is an accumulation of our experiences and surroundings. Living on Skye, the landscape is inevitably going to find its way into my work, whether I intend it to or not. We don’t create in a vacuum, so everything around us becomes part of the things we make.
14. Perfection or beautiful imperfection?
Emily: I aim for perfection, knowing I’m never quite going to get there. The inevitable variations are part of what makes each piece unique.
15. The three Fs, favourite flower and font?
Emily: Favourite font would be something classic like Gouda Old Style. And currently my favourite flower is a Plume Thistle.
16.What question would you ask yourself, share the answer?
Emily: Why do you do so many things?
I’m not very good at sitting still! But I think all the different things I do feed each other in some way. Design, pottery, growing flowers and working with the fire service are completely different, but I like the balance between creative work, physical work and being part of the community around me
Thank you, Emily Leonard my super conjoint Creative.