Field Notes : Carla Murdoch
My path first crossed with Carla’s back in 2018, I’d just moved to Sheffield and as it turned out, Carla had just moved back after time away from her hometown.
We were both embarking on Yorkshire Artspace’s charity funded ‘Starter Studio’ programmes, her in the ceramics studio and myself in the silversmiths workshop, eager to crack on with our two years in these exciting spaces.
Carla is just the most warm, easy going character, who happens to create the most fabulous functional hand-thrown ceramics that you’ll often find gracing the tables of some of the best independent cafes and restaurants in the city. I highly recommend looking her up on Instagram (@carla_murdoch_ceramics), so you too can follow along as she experiments with her self-built wood fired garden kiln, garner top notch podcast suggestions and keep up to date with Florence, the house rabbit.
Q - IF YOU WERE TO COMMISSION A BESPOKE CONTOUR MAP PIECE, WHAT LANDSCAPE WOULD IT FEATURE?
A - My land of choice is the view from the studio, Windy Bank [Deepcar, Sheffield], which links into 2 beautiful walks.
When moving back to Sheffield in 2018 one of the must haves was the countryside; either being in it, very close to it, or being able to see it. The house we bought has a beautiful view of Windy Bank. Mainly fields, in spring full of sheep and currently we can see cows and horses. Weirdly, the cows look huge in the fields, almost like they have been superimposed into the landscape!
I have a clear view of Windy bank from the studio, and have placed my pottery wheel in the window looking straight out at it. It never disappoints, even when it's full of fog and mist.
Even in the dark, during the run up to Christmas and Easter there is a huge cross lit up - I'm not a religious person but always get excited to see it.
In winter a walk up Windy Bank, honest to its name, does blow the cobwebs away. I always take friends up there.
The walk heading right leads to Isle of Skye, a 360 º viewing platform where you can see right through to Sheffield city centre, and across towards Leeds, you can see the big phone tower. There's a great view up to the Peaks and down towards Underbank reservoir.
Following the path right you head into Forge Woods, in spring it is full of bluebells. Then, heading back down towards the river, it's such a calm and green space. The sides of the river are filled with remnants of buildings (tin was once mined here). On the river's edge I have found some unusual treasures, an old metal sign with numbers, some beautiful slate rocks and lumps of metal.
Turning left on Windy Bank takes you through some fields, this is my favourite place to forage. One edge of the field is lined with plum trees, then a winding path takes you through to an overgrown area where a green apple tree hides, it has the freshest and crispest eating apples. There are plenty of blackberry bushes, damsons and sloes to be found here too. I recently read a book that an apple tree in the wild is a sign that in years gone by a dwelling would have been there. When visiting the apple tree last week I thought about this and like a child, my mind wandered about who would have lived there and what their home was like.
Q - DO LANDSCAPES PLAY A ROLE IN YOUR OWN WORK?
A - Yes I would say it does play a part in my practice.
Clay is from the ground and can be found quite easily, on a few occasions I have collected clays from the wild and experimented with them.
Secondly, just being out in the landscape resets me, inspires me but not in a literal sense of inspiring, more of a spiritual grounded sort of way. By getting outside it gives me the headspace to formulate new ideas and see things more clearly. It's actually quite a difficult one to explain, that!
Visit Carla’s website - www.carlamurdochceramics.co.uk
Follow her on Instagram - @carla_murdoch_ceramics