Chapel Lane Studios
Tucked away in the heart of Poole Town Centre lies a doorway to a magical world of creativity, where two friends and accomplished teachers help hundreds of people create amazing ceramic sculptures, stunning pots, cool silver bangles, wedding rings and much more. Introducing Chapel Lane Studios.
We’re bringing creativity back to Poole High Street,” says Chapel Lane Studios co-founder and silversmith Emma Leonard. “There’s all these cool things going on in Kingland Crescent and Old Town and across Poole and we’re part of that. We've got our little creative community going on, but it’s kind of hidden away.”
“We want more people to know we’re here,” says fellow co-founder and ceramicist Charlotte Miller. “We’ve got a lot of experience, great facilities and really well equipped studios; there’s a car park next door too making it really convenient.”
Since they moved in two years ago, Emma has taken the top floor of the studio for her metalwork classes and her own studio, while Charlotte occupies the first floor where she creates and teaches ceramics (see next pages for details).
The pair first met when they were both teaching at Bournemouth and Poole College, they bonded over shared food breaks and established a friendship that paved the way for a lifelong artistic collaboration - and endless shared lunch breaks!
“When the department where we taught closed and we were made redundant, we had lots of students who wanted to carry on doing classes but had nowhere to do them,” explains Emma. Determined to continue teaching their craft, the pair - who are both qualified teachers with almost half a century’s experience between them - set up a small studio together in Westbourne, Bournemouth, which they worked from for over a decade. When the landlord put the building on the market, the search was on for a new home - and that’s when Chapel Lane Studios was born, attracting creators from a much wider area from all over Dorset and beyond.
“It’s three times the size of our old studio,” beams Charlotte, as she shows off her kiln room where shelves are adorned with models of hares, turtles and lots of cups and dishes awaiting firing. The upsizing means both Charlotte and Emma can accommodate more people and have plenty of room for specialist equipment so can offer a wide range of processes.
“The spacious studio means we can offer a nicer experience for classes,” adds Emma.
“We normally run our evening classes on the same evening. That's nice because it's quite sociable. There's always a bit of buzz.”
Being a maker and working on our own can be quite isolating,” adds Charlotte. “Having our studios in the same building means that we can bounce ideas off of each other and teaching regular classes means you feel part of a community.”
chapellanestudios.co.uk
Emma Leonard Jewellery
With over two decades of experience making and teaching metal work, silversmith Emma Leonard explains how her classes at Chapel Lane Studios in Poole are about much more than making jewellery…
Heading upstairs at Chapel Lane Studios to Emma’s space, you’re greeted with a series of light airy attic rooms and, if you stand on tiptoes on look carefully, you can even see the sea - reminding you that you’re in the heart of Poole.
Emma runs a range of classes to suit all budgets - from weekend workshops, where people can come and make a ring or a bangle in a day to a full term’s worth of lessons to really hone silversmith skills. Emma says: “I've got the room to offer a range of classes. We've got a big central bench where everyone can work, so it's really sociable. There are a lot of tools and equipment that maybe people wouldn't be able to set up at home very easily. As well as being a good entry point into creating with metals, my classes are perfect for people who have dipped their toe into jewellery making and want to develop their skills further, access different facilities or learn new processes such as etching, enamelling, stone-setting.” Emma’s studio also offers classes with other specialist makers from Dorset, making further links to the creative community.
Emma, whose students range from teenagers to pensioners, feels very lucky to have such loyal students - some of whom have been coming to her classes for more than 10 years. She says: “Generally, it tends to be people who have really busy working lives or really busy home lives and want some time to themselves. So I get a lot of teachers, a lot of people who work for the NHS, and a lot of busy mums who just want an evening class where they can do something for themselves, forget their worries and learn something new. It's completely different to what they're doing in their life outside - metal mindfulness.
“Classes are really sociable and everyone is really friendly, they're all about making and being creative. It’s nice, people share ideas with each other. It isn't just about the skills - though students develop really good skills - but is about the kind of social side of it as well. Even if people are from really different backgrounds, they've all got something in common that they're interested in making something. People say: ‘Oh, it's the highlight of my week. It's my ‘me time’.”
Emma, a qualified adult education teacher specialising in Post-16 classes, spends half her time in the studio teaching, and the other half making her own pieces from her dedicated studio space that doubles up as a kitchen and mini-staff room in which she and Charlotte eat their lunch (in keeping with their age-old tradition).
Emma’s silversmith journey began when she did a degree in silversmithing and jewellery at Sir John Cass School of Art, now part of London Metropolitan University following an Art Foundation course at Shelley Park - now AUB. She says: “I had a really good tutor who said ‘I think you'd be good at this’, so I went up to London where I studied at a specialist centre; it was a fantastic experience that allowed me to develop a career in design and jewellery-making.”
You can find Emma’s mid-century inspired contemporary jewellery creations through a number of craft galleries nationwide. “What goes down well varies regionally,” explains Emma “For example, the people of Manchester love a bangle. This time of year, in the run up to Christmas, it tends to be a lot of earrings and pendants because they're accessible presents that don't have to fit.” Her desk is already covered in jewellery ready for Christmas, which is also available
to buy through her website.
Website → emma-leonard.co.uk
Instagram → @emmaleonardjewellery
Charlotte Miller Ceramics
Charlotte Miller divides her time between teaching at her Chapel Lane Studios in Poole and a local community centre and making her own brilliant ceramic budgie busts. She expands on this work here.
Just like her Chapel Lane Studios co-founder Emma, Charlotte - a fully qualified teacher - has 20+ years’ experience under her belt which has led to her spending most of her time teaching ceramics to others, saving a bit of time to craft ceramic animals and thrown pieces to sell.
Charlotte’s work - which you can buy in galleries nationwide or on her website - has been very much focused on sculpture, but in recent years she’s diversified to include mugs, planters and brooches. But it’s teaching that dominates Charlotte’s working week. She runs shorter three-hour introductory
classes where you can make ceramic animals and pots, weekend workshops on the potter’s wheel, as well as longer six or 12 week courses to delve deeper into ceramics. She says: “Pottery is a slow and mindful process and, with those classes, you get to do everything from start to finish, so you learn a lot more technically. I do one-on-one tuition as well, great for people who want some sort of technical input into a particular area, and there’s the odd pottery party or hen do activity.”
Having been good at art from a young age, Charlotte went on to college in her hometown of Bournemouth to do a Foundation Art course, where she had a ‘natural
affinity’ with clay. She went on to complete a BA Contemporary Crafts degree at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she could really hone her making skills. After graduating, Charlotte did a PGCE to train as a teacher and share her passion with others. “I love the immediacy of clay,” says Charlotte. “As soon as you touch it, you leave an impression. People choose what they make and we focus on technique and refining their skills. There's a real sense of achievement and satisfaction using something you've made - like drinking your morning coffee from a mug you’ve made yourself.”
Charlotte’s corner of the studio is full of brilliant ceramic budgies, with headwear, earrings and retro outfits and an emerging range of colourful painted pots. “All of my own ceramic work is animals and birds.” explains Charlotte, as she smooths out the clay on her latest avian creation. “I used to go around car boot sales a lot with my dad, and I would collect a lot of kitsch curiosities which began to kind of feed into my style - the way I dressed, home interiors, the music I loved - and into my work. Everything has a nod to the past, that’s where the budgies came in, a pet from the yesteryear - although they're quite popular again now - and they're featured in a lot of old films as well. I went on a bird watching adventure in Poole Harbour this year and think I'm going to do a range of work based on local birds.”
Taking a class with Charlotte Miller Ceramics will give you more than a small sculpture to be proud of, you’ll become part of a creative community. Charlotte says: “I do things like arrange trips to go and see craft fairs and ceramic shows, there’s very much a nice sense of community. Lots of friendship groups have formed and there’s even some people that have known each other for about 10 years now, so that's really lovely.”
Website → charlottemillerceramics.com
Instagram → @charlottemillerceramics
