A Potter Creates an Inspiring Room of Her Own

When Janene Waudby and her husband bought their home in southeast London in 2013, they were immediately drawn to its long garden. Waudby, a ceramicist, saw the possibility of carving out a space for herself at the far end of the garden. “There was no room in our old house for a shed,” she says, but the long garden in their new home was perfect for her creative little oasis. Waudby was eager to have a studio where she could dedicate herself to her ceramics. Now, in addition to enjoying a newly renovated house, she can pursue her artistic passion in a space that’s completely her own.

Studio at a Glance
Who works here: Janene Waudby, a ceramic artist at jceramics
Location: Honor Oak, a suburb in southeast London
Size: About 8 by 10 feet (2.6 by 3 meters)

Waudby was studying ceramics at college when she began looking into renting studio space. However, when she discovered her tutor was working out of a garden shed, she realized she could easily create a studio in her own backyard. “In quite a small space, you can do an awful lot,” she says.

Waudby’s studio came with sturdy laminate flooring that resembles wooden floorboards. Its walls, roof and floor are also fully insulated. Waudby bought furniture at secondhand and local shops.


Waudby had her studio custom made by Sanctum Garden Studios, which specializes in creating sheds and standalone studios. Although you can order pre-made units, the company also offers custom designs.

“I wanted windows all across the front and one across the back as well, because that’s where the morning light comes in,” Waudby says.


She says the studio was the first thing to be installed in the garden. “We built everything else around it,’ she says. Before Sanctum could install the shed, Waudby had to level the space, a project she and her husband had been working on anyway since they were renovating the house and garden. Unlike some garden structures of this type, however, it did not need a concrete base.


Waudby added a small brick patio, which gives the space an open and homey atmosphere. The French windows open up the studio to the garden, creating an uplifting connection between outside and in.


Waudby’s throwing wheel is in front of the large windows so she can look out onto the garden as she works. This is important to her as her pieces are influenced by landscapes and the forms and creations of nature.


A collection of finished and half-finished works adorns the studio’s shelves.


Waudby emphasizes the importance of staying supremely organized in a small studio. “With pottery, you have a lot of materials and piles of sawdust,” she says. She uses the sawdust for her pit firing technique, described below.

She tries to keep each corner as organized and uncluttered as possible. This desk is where she draws the designs for her new creations.


In another corner, Waudby’s small kiln and some finished products sit under a wall featuring inspirational photos. Her studio is perfect for smaller works, but she still needs to use the kiln at her college for larger projects.


One of Waudby’s current projects revolves around a series of elongated and corrugated vases. “My sister calls it the parsnip,” she says with a laugh.


Waudby explains the philosophy behind her “parsnip” vase series: “I wanted to explore the idea of something that’s fundamentally static but looks as if it has movement,” she says. “The idea is to make them look as if they’re alive.”


Outside, Waudby keeps a dustbin filled with sawdust in which she pit fires certain items. This involves filling the bin with layers of sawdust and setting fire to it, which creates colorings and textures on the ceramics.


Waudby’s moon vases, shown here on a windowsill in her home, are created with this pit fire method and are another of her current projects. “They’re fired for the first time in the kiln, and afterward I wrap them in ferns or bits of hemp and put them in the sawdust fire,” she says. “When the pots come out you never really know what you’re going to get. Each one is individual, because you can’t really replicate them.”


Waudby relishes having a space of her own. “What struck me about the studio the first time I used it is how immediately I connected with my 14-year-old self,” she says. And being able to play music at whatever volume she likes, staying as long as she wants and having the space to think solely about her craft has really helped her design process, she adds.

The studio has become a refuge and an idyll for her, even when she’s not working. “Sometimes, when I’m sitting on the terrace, neighbors come up and bring me a cup of tea,” she says. “It really is a major living improvement.”

Tell us: Do you hanker after a creative garden space of your own — or already have one? We’d love to hear about it — fantasy or reality — in the Comments.

More:
11 Nominees for the ‘She Shed’ Hall of Fame
14 Home Studios That Nurture Creativity and Art

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