Get a curated collection of design and architecture news in your inbox by signing up to our ICON Weekly newsletter
Ceramicist and artist Emma Louise Payne celebrates the launch of her first homeware collection, London Plane, a range of beautiful, handcrafted objects
Photography by Anna Brooks
Words by Jessica-Christin Hametner
About an hour from London, in a rural location surrounded by apple trees, lies the studio of Emma Louise Payne, a ceramicist and artist based in Henley-on-Thames. Established last year, following a stint in Copenhagen to study Ceramic Design at the Royal Danish Academy, Payne returned to the UK in 2017 to set up her workshop.
Creating beautiful, individual pieces of art, the young maker is now celebrating the launch of her first homeware collection. Entitled London Plane, it is made up of dinnerware plates ideal for serving hearty meals, elegantly curved candle holders and delicate vases available in a range of sizes.
Taking its design cues from plane trees, popular on the streets and in the parks of London, which are instantly recognisable for their abstract bark patterns, with her inaugural collection the emerging artist is firing up a new age for ceramics.
Photography by Kristy Noble
Based on a core colour palette of six tones that are reflected in six repeating shapes, Payne puts a twist on the nature-inspired pieces with soft, understated tones that range from a rich moss to a delicate pollen to contemporary sage.
Each piece is crafted in slip cast coloured porcelain, which lends itself perfectly to the sculptural range of vessels, while candles offer earthy scents reminiscent of the small copse surrounding Payne’s Oxfordshire studio. Extending the connection to nature, the pots can be refilled as candles or used throughout the home.
‘This is a really exciting milestone for the studio,’ shares Payne. ‘My work to date has largely been commissioned based and this is an opportunity for me to showcase my own artistic vision for the first time.’
Photography by Kristy Noble
‘Alongside this new collection, I am opening a London showroom next year and have moved to a larger workshop adjacent to the original studio in the rural countryside,’ adds the artist.
‘The expansion has allowed me the space, freedom and time to create this new collection. London Plane connects me to nature, by way of my workshop, but also to London, the city where I first fell in love with ceramics and art.’
Going beyond traditional concepts, Payne explores the potentiality of ceramics in an imaginative way and shows that she isn’t afraid to break the mould.
