Little Dog Ceramics
Words by Jamie and Ella Sims of Little Dog Ceramics
Photography and Video by James Loveday
Little Dog is Jamie and Ella Sims, a father and daughter duo who create Raku and stoneware ceramics both functional and sculptural. They work from the East Midlands, and sell across the UK and internationally. Whilst ceramics has been a family activity as well as a professional endeavour for decades, they have been trading as Little Dog Ceramics for three years.
Growing Up
Jamie: My father was one of those people who could turn his hand to anything. Animal husbandry, mechanics, electrics, gardening, woodwork, etc. Everything handmade, he could do. He even made his own surfboard to surf with. When I was younger, he would make all my toys, to a very high standard. So, I have always been immersed in the creative process. We also have a broad vein of artistry in my family from my mother’s side. My uncle was a TV set designer, and my auntie was an art teacher.
Consequently, I’ve always been an artist. I’ve worked in TV, film, computer games, tabletop games, illustration, sculpture and more. I initially studied ceramics as another subject to fulfil the education course requirements. Then, when I went to art school, I specialised in ceramics. After college, I set up a little pottery station, and when my kids were young, I would get them to throw on the wheel just for fun. So, Ella has also always had that creative influence around her. She studied drawing at Falmouth University and has gone on to work as a concept artist in games, meaning there are crossovers in our work outside of ceramics, a result of that shared relationship with art.
When COVID-19 happened, we were living together, and it dawned on us that we had this incredible to delve once more into ceramics as as duo. Working together on Little Dog is the first time that we have collaborated professionally. It’s a way for us to combine our love for art once again, but now as adults. And that is enormously gratifying.
Ella: There were many bonding moments growing up where creativity was involved. But overall, I think I’m just lucky to have always been immersed in it and encouraged to express myself artistically. It is easy to take for granted the things that are normal to us, but Dad’s guidance over the years, as well as our shared love of art, is something I am hugely grateful for as I know not everyone has this experience with a parent.
My favourite part of working together is just spending time together creatively. It’s downtime for me, where I get to come home and just enjoy the process of making. To make pottery, you have to be very present, so to be in that together has been wonderful - especially if it’s a sunny day in our garden workshop, blasting tunes, covered in clay. I love it.
About Raku
Jamie: Raku came directly from the upsurgence of Buddhism, a reaction to the opulence of the dynasties. It literally embraces the flaws, allows for the unexpected, rejoices in chance happenings, and works with the life of the material as well as the life of the maker. That is one of the absolute joys of the process, though, the uncertainty and unknown of how the object will turn out. It’s like nature's way of having an artistic say.
Using fire and smoke directly creates natural patterns, especially in the famous Raku crackle. We're both fascinated by the creative patterns that can be found all through the natural world, for example, sand on beaches, cloud formations, the spill of leaves, tributaries seen from above, etc. Raku embodies these elements so fully. Although a purist will tell you it should be called Soldner, not Raku!
Jamie: The Raku process is where we come together in the most harmony. It’s very complex, tricky, and dangerous. It absolutely requires two sets of hands, which lends itself to collaboration. This is undoubtedly the ceramic process that brings us the most joy. Raku is like a ritual. And the results are rapid, which is hugely gratifying. It’s a messy process, but from it comes objects of sublime beauty. We both love that whole transmogrification.
The name Little Dog Ceramics came about essentially because, well, we’ve always had little dogs. We love animals, particularly dogs. But in truth, we went through a tonne of names. The more we came up with, the less appropriate they seemed. Then, that name just popped into my head.
It conjures the image of something familiar and cute but with attitude, just like our little dog, Peska. For us, that kept the name humble and grounded. And we liked that a lot. It also lends itself to neat graphics! And as we are both visual artists, that jumps quite high for us!
I also have to say that Peska is completely of her own volition. She takes herself under the kiln every time it's fired. We like to think she’s putting actual little dog magic into the fire! So, really, Little Dog Ceramics was and still is the perfect name for us.
“So, if I were to give anyone advice, it would have to be to believe in yourself! Trust your intuition. Hold on to your values. You instinctively know what is right. It’s in your heart. Believe in that, don’t overcomplicate, and be honest!”
Daily Routine
Jamie: Every day is different depending on what we want to prioritise. The day often starts with clay recycling - crushing dry clay, soaking then spreading to plaster slabs and wedging/kneading back to life. It’s a good wake-up process and really gets you inside the life of the whole process. Then it’s on to any new throwing that needs to be drying for the coming days, pulling/rolling handles, setting to dry, etc. Then it's nursing any pieces further on in the process - turning, checking joints are drying well, wetting down and sealing in micro-climates and so on. Sometimes we will check what’s to be glazed next, if glazes need stirring or are properly sieved and ready to use. Finally, we will clean the areas and tools ready to be covered in clay when we come to use them next!
Where we are now
Jamie: As father and daughter, we are both creatives with strong opinions, and sometimes this leads to us bashing heads like bighorn goats. But we always manage to laugh through it, then come out the other side grinning. Usually holding an object of staggering beauty, which helps!
I would have to say that our greatest accomplishment has been successfully preserving many ceramic pony skulls through the Raku process and perfecting the huge, even primary crackle. We can now replicate that result over and over, and it took a long time to achieve that. So, if I were to give anyone advice, it would have to be to believe in yourself! Trust your intuition. Hold on to your values. You instinctively know what is right. It’s in your heart. Believe in that, don’t overcomplicate, and be honest!
As life comes our way, we also have to adjust. Living together during COVID really allowed us to work closely with Little Dog Ceramics. However, with busy lives and no longer living together, Ella's pots usually end up in her own collection, and I end up throwing most of the pottery for Little Dog. Where we come together now is in the decoration and the process of Raku. Now, we work in a more enveloped manner as Ella is a full-time character-concept-artist working in video games. I push on the making to a more sculptural/modelling angle. Then Ella comes in at fortnightly intervals and we start experimenting with surface applications we haven’t used before. We are also putting out a lot more traditional, functional stoneware and going forward, we intend to apply Ellas' graphic art approach to the made surfaces. We’re excited to see where this takes us!
Photographs and video taken by James Loveday and words written by Ella & Jamie Sims
