Welcome to Greenbank Pottery. I’m Tamara Evans Braun and I have a pottery studio in my garden in East Bristol, UK. It is self built from scrap materials. I make pottery inspired by nature and sustainability. My designs are rooted in nature and the earth. They echo my love of the outdoors and reflect how my allotment and garden help ground me.

I currently primarily work in stoneware and often use wax resist or wipe away sections of glaze to add texture and contrast. I fire in oxidation to cone 6/7.

Although I have an online shop here I love to keep my business as local as possible so do come visit me at arts trails and markets around Bristol.

If you see something you fancy online that isn’t listed on my shop, do email me (greenbankpottery AT gmail.com) or message me on instagram or facebook. I can deliver locally by bike or I can post UK wide. I can also make to order within my style of items, although I’ll be honest, I’m not quick at commissions.

Background

My first forays into clay were on childhood residential courses at Eden Pottery in Cumbria. I made very wonky marbled bowls which spent many years lost in my parents garden. I went on to do ceramics as part of art GCSE but then my formal education became science focused and I went on to get PhD in Medicine from Cambridge University.

As an adult, I learnt to throw pots whilst dressed as a Tudor at the amazing Kentwell Hall historical re-enactments. The conditions are sometimes adverse. The kick wheel is wonky, the clay in short supply, the shed falling down (although we are lucky enough to have the support and critiquing of Peter Currell Brown). We learnt as we went, in front of a crowd of amazed visitors. We made (and still make) terracotta pots and fire them on site in a wood firing kiln. They are glazed in honey glazes, along with blood, sweat and gin. There are few places I’d rather be than tired and aching and staring into the flames of that kiln.

In the real world, I have taken many different classes and courses with many different pottery teachers! Bernie Vinton was very encouraging of experimentation which I really enjoyed. The best kitted out teaching studio I have used has been at Bristol Folk House where I’ve been taught by Margaret Crump, Bill Moore and Sam Hallett, all of whom were excellent teachers and I would highly recommend.

Over the last 5 years my work has become highly influenced by my love of nature. I aim to create natural feeling pottery that is calm and grounding and what I make changes with the seasons although many themes remain consistent.

Why is there so much about sustainability on this website?

We are in the midst of a climate emergency.

Meaningfully addressing the issues of climate change requires government level action and cooperation on a worldwide scale. In the meantime, my family wants to limit our personal contribution to climate change, species extinction and ocean pollution. To do this, we consider what we eat, what we buy, how we travel. We grow a lot of our own fruit and veg, we buy second hand clothes, we recycle, we reuse, we take public transport. I research and implement sustainability in my creatives ceramics process and I try to write about all of these things in my blog on thise site.

We don’t live perfect zero carbon waste free lives. We live in a big modern city choked with pollution. I like baths. I own a smart phone and a laptop. I love to travel. I make ceramics. I sometimes get a plastic bag for my shopping. We are a family of real, imperfect people but we are a family that tries to be green. We want our lives to have a low impact on the world around us, but we also live in this world, as it is, right now and as well as being about my ceramics, this site is about our attempts to live a greener life.

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