Jana Gilfillan
Jana Gilfillan | Ceramics | Cornwall
Jana has been making pottery in her garden studio in Cornwall since 2019, after retiring from a long career in the NHS. Her pottery is named after a delicious Cornish apple, the Gilliflower, planted in the orchard beside the studio.
Her work is primarily wheel-thrown and functional. She uses stoneware from a clay pit a few miles up the road, and fires her work in an electric kiln, fueled by 100% renewable energy. The result is robust durable pieces, that can be used every day.
Jana decorates her pots with slip (liquid clay), stained with oxides to provide a muted and natural colour palette. She often applies slip over stencils, and also paints freehand onto the clay, using loose brushstokes. She mixes her own glazes and slips to limit toxic chemicals and ensure chemicals are sourced from ethical suppliers.
She draws on her South African childhood for inspiration: in particular the wildfires that intermittently devastate the indigenous floral kingdom of the Western Cape as well as traditional African claypots. These influences are tempered by the soft Cornish light and countryside that surrounds her.