Natalie Case – Pottery Classes

About Natalie

I began my creative journey at a young age, spending hours drawing in a small room in my parents’ house from around the age of ten. It was at this age that I attended my first pottery class.

My first job, at fourteen, was in an art shop — and that’s where my passion for craft and art materials truly began. I would memorise the pigments of oil paints, fall in love with the texture of heavy, rough watercolour papers, and learn about artists and their practices.

My early drawings were copies of cartoon characters, which gradually evolved into studies of horses and dogs. At school, I took art and dressmaking, knowing even then that my future would always be connected to craft. After leaving school, I worked as a sailmaker, assisting in the design of spinnakers and creating soft furnishings for my own home and others.

When I became a parent, I returned to further education and immersed myself in fine art and photography. I gained a First-Class Honours degree in Photography, which also incorporated mixed media and portraiture. After graduating, I worked as a freelance photographer and later began teaching in a college and then in secondary schools.

In 2015, I relocated to Singapore. Leaving teaching behind, I decided to ‘upskill’ and focus on learning everything I could about ceramics. When I returned to Stroud, I discovered Stroud Pottery and took a studio space there.

Five years on, I’m now the Managing Director and teacher within this truly wonderful Community Interest Company. I’ve taken bold decisions to support its growth and sustainability, and I’m incredibly proud of both the pottery and the team who make it what it is.

My personal practice has taken a slight back seat in recent years, but I’m now in the process of setting up my own studio and workshop space, where I plan to focus on developing a new, more sculptural body of work.