Dear lovely friends,
Pencil the date in your diaries as Mud Club will host its first seasonal event on the eve of the summer solstice.
Please join us on Saturday 20th June for an afternoon of wild clay activities at Pollard Yard, soundtracked by Hope Valley Cement Works.
Follow the link in bio for tickets. More details to come.
@hopevalleycementworks@fridacooper
from May Mud Club 🪨
Thank you so much for the support so far. It’s been a joy to have a sold out Mud Club to start the year and share my practice in this way on a monthly basis. Each participant has really helped shape the workshop into its full form. Next month I will be leaping into freelance life so my ticket price will be going up to compete with other workshops, and for other reasons of wanting to have an income from art that doesn’t mean selling works.
Again, thank you! You can now sign up for tickets to June, July and August by following the link in my bio. Hope to see some familiar faces this summer.
It’s May Mud Club today!
In this session we are going to be processing and making with clay harvested from @northernrootsoldham in Oldham. Since working with this natural clay I’ve come to love showcasing the variety of iron oxides while processing and how its durable qualities are great for practicing hand building techniques.
We look forward to making with those who’ve booked on for this evening, find us at Frida Cooper Ceramics in Pollard Yard.
This time last year Freya and I spent a few days in the Peaks to make some work together, as well as for our individual practices. One of which was these set of two collaborative pots using clay from caves that Freya had spent the year researching.
It was a terribly rainy day for weather out on the open moors as we perched up on a millstone to make the pots. They feel really formative now as the year has passed and our practices have matured. But they hold such memory and meaning of our project Common Ground, which we’re currently exhibiting at Manchester Craft and Design Centre.
One of my favourite things about working in the Peak District is that you can always spot figures in the landscape. It is one of the most visited national parks in the country due to its proximity to major cities like Manchester and Sheffield. To me, that means the idyllic vision of the countryside often has people in it and enjoying its vistas, which I hope this photograph emulates.
April has been busy!
So grateful for the team @northernrootsoldham to have saved their incredible iron rich clay for me. I processed it with those at Mud Club this month and lovely @fridacooper wedged it up while I was unwell. Then it was used by the wonderful attendees of our workshop at @manchestercraft for the exhibition celebration of Common Ground. Two projects that have kept me grounded to my practice since graduating.
And so it has come that time of year again where my ideas are brewed in buckets. I start to feel creatively frustrated, but in a really great way. There’s a fine mix of silt and ball clay that I’m thinking about most days. A sculpture is coming …
One of my favourite photographs from our most recent Common Ground field trip, on the first day of Spring 2026
Our exhibition @manchestercraft is now open! Running until late August in the centre of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. We hope it shows a taste of a sustainable art practice, sense of play and a true love of the outdoors which is what has brought us together.
Our exhibition celebration event is tomorrow!
We are chuffed to be supported by Manchester Craft and Design Centre in showcasing our degree show installation in their lovely building, with thanks to the Radcliffe Trust and MMU.
Manchester Craft and Design Centre, NQ Manchester
12pm to 3pm @manchestercraft
Reminder for tomorrow 👀
Join us for the Common Ground exhibition celebration tomorrow Saturday 18th April, 12–3pm showcasing @freyaboothroydcraft , @joabstudio and @abbiefowler .
Meet the artists, watch the film screening and take part in a workshop led by the makers.
Free to attend. Drop in and celebrate with us! 🙌
#manchesterart #exhibition #whatsoninmanchester #supportartists
Join us this Saturday for an interactive wild clay workshop for the exhibition opening of Common Ground: An Art Practice in the Peak District at Manchester Craft and Design Centre
While creating Common Ground we participated in walking workshops using materials direct from the land, to enhance our investigations into the two main rock basins of the national park- the White Peak (carboniferous limestone) and the Dark Peak (millstone grit). Therefore we’d like to invite participants to build upon these findings and develop their own relationship to this magnificent landscape that envelopes Greater Manchester.
The workshops will be held as two drop in sessions during the exhibition opening this Saturday 18th April at 1pm and 2pm, see you there.
@manchestercraft@freyaboothroydcraft@joabstudio
It’s April Mud Club today!
In this evening’s session we are going to be processing Fireclay from @northernrootsoldham — Fireclay is a sedimentary clay most commonly found below coal seams of the Carboniferous Period, where they were the base soil for coal forests of that era. The wonderful land workers at Northern Roots have had much fun experimenting with this material they’ve found on site so we can’t wait to investigate further at Mud Club.
We look forward to seeing those who’ve booked on for this evening, find us at Frida Cooper Ceramics in Pollard Yard.
Upcoming exhibition — Common Ground: An Art Practice in the Peak District
Our collaborative exhibition brings together wild clay and photography, alongside audiovisual elements to create an immersive installation at Manchester Craft and Design Centre.
Join us for the exhibition opening celebrations and an interactive workshop on Saturday 18th April. More details to follow!
