INTRODUCTION The cold, dark months at the start of the year can often be a struggle. Many people just want to hibernate and stay warm and cosy indoors, longing for spring, but the longer evenings are the perfect opportunity to potentially learn a new skill or discover a new talent, such as working with clay. Taking part in a course to learn about clay is something that all of the artists we feature in this March/April issue have never regretted. For example, signing up to a ceramics course was a life-changing experience for Ken Eastman: ‘Within a few days, I knew I would spend the rest of my life working with clay,’ he explains in his profile on pages 12–18. Eastman has gone on to establish a respected career, exhibiting work at galleries and museums in London, South Korea, the Netherlands, France and Switzerland, to name just a few, while also being shortlisted for the Loewe Foundation Craft Prize. Samuel Sparrow, one of our other profiled artists, signed up for a throwing course in the summer of 2018, and as he reveals on pages 28–33: ‘I felt this kind of feverish excitement before starting the course, like the anticipation of meeting someone you are falling in love with.’ Sparrow creates skilfully crafted functional ceramics and has worked with some of the UK’s f inest chefs and restaurants. Alongside these creative endeavours he also designs and crafts bespoke pottery tools. To date, he has sold over 6,000 tools, including to artist Edmund de Waal and Hollywood actor Seth Rogen. Our third profile, Australian-based artist Ebony Russell, discovered clay as a child and decided to become a ceramicist aged 16. She achieved a BA Hons in ceramics and in 2004, started to experiment with a technique that involved piping clay using a piping bag traditionally used in cake decoration. Her vessel forms are frothy confections of piped porcelain, like hundreds of litt le iced gem biscuits loosely attached together. Having the opportunity to experiment with these forms, she concluded that: ‘I could have my own voice, my own language, and even my own style, technique and process,’ providing her with a platform to tell women’s stories and present a feminist critique. You can f ind out more on pages 20–26. Whether you want to change your life, fall in love with a new skill or f ind a way to express your voice, working with clay can provide you with a wealth of experiences and opportunities and that is why Ceramic Review champions this marvellous material. We hope you enjoy f inding out more about it through the pages of this latest issue. Karen Bray, Editor He w s o n i m o n l l ; S R u s s e f E b o ny o : co u r te sy Image March/April 2025 3