A ceramics brand that inspires simplicity in everyday life.
All Reed Ceramics' dinner, home and wall art is individually handcrafted on the Sunshine Coast Australia. I work from my home-based, light filled studio alongside the Noosa River in a leafy, friendly community. I have made and sold handmade pieces of many materials since I was a small child. Continuing in this tradition and after years of working in creative roles I branched out on my own, do formal study in ceramics and visual art, and now produce dinnerware and decorative objects for stores and private collectors.
I also make plates for weddings and special events; translucent gold & copper rimmed porcelain plates on which the menus can be placed, then used as side plates, each one then wrapped and given to the guests as a memento of the wedding or event. Porcelain has a life of it’s own and demands intense careful attention to detail; a process I love as each plate then becomes carefully hand crafted and unique.
FAROE ISLAND SHEEP SKINS NOW AVAILABLE
For the better part of 2019 I was exploring Europe, the traditions, architecture, homes, cultures and people. I am developing new ceramic work after being immersed in these new and inspiring cultures. The start of these new pieces along with classic favourites are now available here on my online shop.
The place that gave me inspiration of a different kind are the Faroe Islands. These are a tiny group of Islands sitting alone in the Atlantic sea between Iceland, Norway and Scotland. This country with its wild nature has jaw dropping scenery, beautiful little towns tucked in hollows by the sea, bird life, sea life and always, always sheep; the most interesting sheep I've ever seen. They're sheep with long, wavy wool in the most amazing colours, dearly loved by their owners and treated with the utmost kindness.
Faroe Islands means Sheep Islands. Sheep have been the backbone of their civilisation, with it's wool called Faroese Gold, their meat essential to survival (dried in the salty island air in stone enclosures), the un-dyed wool knitted in traditional Faroese patterns then and now. Go into any home in the Faroe’s and you'll find a skin or two draped over a chair, as a rug or hanging on walls to soften the acoustics.
The skins of the Faroe’s are beautiful, practical and no two are the same. They are a by-product of the sheep industry and rather than go to landfill or waste, have been treated on the island by a local company with no nasty chemicals in the process. I fell in love with these skins, they literally stopped me in my tracks when I saw one in a shop window. I had to have one and thought that the rest of the world needs to know about these skins and their fascinating role and history in the life of the Faroese.
I am now bringing these sheepskins to Australia from the tiny isolated islands to have as a treasured part of your home or place of work.
