My Story

Hi,

I thought I'd introduce myself, my name is Trudi, and I'm the artist behind She Shed Ceramics.  The studio I work from is in my garden and it's where all the designing and creating is done.

I've always had a desire to create from being really little, this was compounded while at school when I decorated a Christmas cake and decided this was what I wanted to do as a career. Many years were enjoyed doing this but it was very early mornings and when the children came along it became impractical.  So for over 20 years, I had an office based  job and fulfilled my creative desires with crochet, knitting, making cakes for the kids and friends. 

Around 4 years ago there was an advert for a Pop up Pottery class in the next village down and I decided to go along.  We were given a ball of clay and told to make something... I had an amazing time! Some of the skills I used were the same as cake decorating, but this was for keeps and nobody put a knife in it and ate it after hours of work :).  About 6 weeks later I came home with a 12kg bag of clay and a couple of months later, when the house was filling up with Greenware, the amazing hubby asked if I thought that this new hobby was maybe a keeper?  That maybe we should think about getting me a shed and a kiln, and thus the She Shed was born. 

I was so eager to learn and progress, I spent most of my spare time in the She Shed creating and booking myself on courses all over the country.  Those first things were nothing like I make now, but as the house was filling up, I decided to sell some at our local Christmas Fair.  People bought my stuff, I mean, they actually liked it, they were complimenting me, my art was in somebody's home and they were admiring it.... It felt amazing!  

A couple of years rolled by and I was what you would call a 'hobby potter' but my dream was to do it full time, which my family kept encouraging me to do, but when you are in a long term steady job it's hard to give it up for the uncertainty. Then 2020 started, I was furloughed and within 2 weeks I felt like a different person, my creativity rose, I felt happy (well, as happy as you can when in the middle of a pandemic) and I decided then and there that at the end of the year I would hand in my notice.

However, the world moves in mysterious ways and I was actually made redundant in July and instead of it being doom and gloom it was a welcome relief, I didn't have to make that decision and She Shed Ceramics was born. The start of my first year so far, is what you would most probably describe as somewhat different. I love to do the fairs and talk to other stall holders and customers and I've had quite a few booked in, but unfortunately, also had quite a few cancelled due to restrictions.  Even with these very uncertain times I have been busy creating and loving my new career, I have just had to adjust and develop new ways of promoting my work and hopefully selling a few pieces. 

I'm very lucky and live in a village on the edge of a forest in Staffordshire, actually, all of my homes have been within walking distance of nature.  My inspiration for my clay creations come mainly from nature and the world around me and I’m obsessed with pumpkins, gourds, and toadstools, the autumn season is my ideal.  I love my things to cause a reaction and I have a quirky sense of humour which I think, shows in my products. I like to make quirky statement pieces that draw people in and make them smile... or not, art is very subjective and I'm happy what ever the reaction is, I mean, what a boring world this would be if we all liked the same things!

The She Shed