Hello,

I’m sat writing to you on a Saturday evening using the desk above from a recently completed home workspace project. Built from White Pearl Valchromat.

February has felt like a very balanced month - finishing home projects, studio visits, exploring residency trips, starting new projects & completed commissions. All very wholesome!

Also today is the first day of (meteorological) spring in the UK, it’s all smooth sailing into Summer from here!

I’ve been continuing an exploration project with Tanguy from VaryLab on our hand screen printed furniture tests which we’re hoping to share towards the end of April at a gallery space in East London.

The project is born from conversations across our shared hallway between our studios. Seeing materials come and go along with techniques we are both using on personal projects or commissions has lead to the evolution of these ideas over the past few months.

We also hope to host a series of workshops and conversations along side the finished objects…

The next episode of A Collection Of… Spaces is with John Booth, ceramicist, designer and illustrator.

I visited @john_booth in his railway-arch studio in Haggerston, East London, John is a a space he’s shared for the past nine years with seven other artists working across ceramics and mixed media. The studio has the feel of a home workspace: books, magazines and sketches are always within reach, feeding a constant loop of ideas.

John’s corner is a layered mix of practical workbenches, past projects, rammed bookshelves and plaster moulds, all sharing the signature pops of colour you’ll recognise from his work. His practice spans objects like egg cups and mugs through to fashion collections and large-scale murals for some of the world’s biggest fashion labels, including Fendi.

My main takeaway from the conversation was John’s openness to learning and collaborating with others. This comes through clearly in his large-scale public installations, where ideas are presented to fabricators and brands through sketches and maquettes rather than polished 3D renders, keeping the work closely aligned with his process. It was a useful reminder for me, someone who often believes everything can be learned alone, that while that may be true, working with collaborators can elevate the outcome.

That balance is especially clear in his ongoing collaboration with @_ianmcintyre_ under the name @supergroupprojects. John’s creative outlook is complemented by Ian’s technical and fabrication insight, creating a strong connection between bespoke studio pieces and factory-scale production, most recently seen in their collections for Hem & The Conran Shop.