Meet Pauline Hughes

Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Pauline Hughes. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.

Pauline , we’ve been so fortunate to work with so many incredible folks and one common thread we have seen is that those who have built amazing lives for themselves are also often the folks who are most generous. Where do you think your generosity comes from?

I have been very fortunate throughout my career to have had teachers who have been extremely generous with their knowledge, skills and time and therefore this has organically become part of my practice. I have also found that in general craft practitioners are, naturally very generous by nature. The root of this I think lies in the fact that many of our techniques and processes have been handed down throughout millennia and we are passionate about preserving this lineage through creative exchange and instruction. I am continually blown away by the generosity of makers who readily share and demonstrate their skill set(s) on You Tube and Instagram and, if I can contribute to this in any small way it is simply my way of giving back.

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

Predominantly I am a sculptor working in clay and although clay remains my primary material, I spend a large proportion of my making time at the print studio. Print has greatly enriched my ceramics, particularly the surfaces after years of solely focussing on form. Over time, these two disciplines have fed directly into each other, and I have found myself applying print techniques to ceramics and sculptural techniques to print. You can see the latter most clearly in my embossed prints where dampened paper passed through a printing press oozes through a precut template to become a raised, sculptural surface. Conversely, I have taken the plates used for my collagraph prints and pressed them into clay to create dynamic patterns that add a visual intensity to my brutalist style mosaics.
Inspiration for my work is derived from the urban landscape and, specifically the city of Liverpool where I live. My ceramics and print are a tactile manifestation of my walks through the city and the emotion I feel when immersed in this landscape. The construction of my work echoes the architecture of the city with multiple, individual elements brought together to create a unified whole. My Instagram hashtag is #thecity as muse as Liverpool is the living, breathing entity at the heart of my work.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Community, resilience, and a strong sense of curiosity I would say are the main factors that have been most impactful on my journey. Making can be very inward looking, and you can easily get stuck in your ways. Community provides you with a large pool of knowledge to draw on and alternative perspectives on your work that can lead to exciting and unexpected areas of growth in your practice. It also offers support during tough times and, of course to celebrate successes with.
Resilience or, a thick skin, as I like t call it is an essential quality to cultivate. I often adopt the mindset of Georgia O’ Keeffe when external factors have a negative impact on my work
“I have already settled it for myself, so flattery and criticism go down the same drain and I am quite free.” This is a good stance to take when navigating the craziness of the art world.
Finally, an intense curiosity is a wonderful thing to possess. Read, look closely, sketch, play, listen to music, read poems, keep a journal, talk to people at bus stops, go on courses. It will not only enrich you as a person but also help you discover things about yourself and the world around you that can have a significant impact on your practice.

Before we go, maybe you can tell us a bit about your parents and what you feel was the most impactful thing they did for you?

My parents were pivotal to me becoming a maker as I grew up in a household where things were made by hand both for practical purposes and for simple for the pleasure of it. My dad, Victor was an engineer by trade and had the ability to make anything out of wood and metal. He worked precisely and methodically with the utmost respect for his tools and the materials he was using. He was also a keen watercolourist. My mum, Joyce was an incredible dress maker and could make the most beautiful clothes and gifts out of scrap materials. I still use a metal shovel that my dad made and wear a mohair jumper that my mum made for my eighteenth birthday.
I also travelled extensively with my parents in a camper van around Europe and, visited many museums with the Toulouse Lautrec at Albi being a particular favourite. All these experiences both at home and abroad helped set me on the road to a life of making.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: #paulineceramics

Image Credits

I have taken all the photographs myself