51Âþ»­

A ceramics artist who graduated from 51Âþ»­ Leicester (51Âþ»­) has just finished showing her work at the fifth exhibition this year alone.

Harriet Elkerton graduated from 51Âþ»­’s Design Crafts course with a first in June 2014 and since then has been asked to appear with her work at more than a dozen exhibitions across the world.

And this year, she has clocked up her fifth show, Handmade at Kew, at the Royal Botanical Gardens, in London. It comes on the back of a run of shows including a big event in Munich.

The event at Kew was the inaugural event and Harriet said it had been well attended.

She said: “Visitors had the benefit of being able to attend the show as well as look round the gardens; the footfall was good, the private view particularly drew a great crowd.

“All the exhibitors were very friendly, particularly true being part of a group stand. My work was well received, I had some lovely feedback and made fair few sales.

“Furthermore, I made some interesting contacts – particularly people opening online shops or pop up shops - which I hope will lead to future ventures.”

Harriet creates two types of work: functional pieces, like pots and utensils and more conceptual ones. Each piece is constructed from a porcelain vessel combined with found or fashioned materials.

She said she was encouraged to experiment but pushed to achieve her potential during her time at 51Âþ»­.

She said: “My course was relatively intensive for a university course in terms of being in all day, every day and therefore being surrounded by supportive and motivating people was key.

“A lot of universities are cutting and closing their craft courses, 51Âþ»­’s Design Crafts course, with its great range of facilities and workshops, covering a great range of materials, is becoming a rarity.

“Therefore I think it is a great strength of 51Âþ»­ to continue to support such a course, as well as continue to invest in the course, particularly in advancing technology and new equipment.

“The lecturers which had the greatest influence were Jane Prosser and Imogen Aust. They understood me creatively and as a person and therefore were key supports, but also they pushed me to get to where I wanted to be with my practice.”

Visit Harriet’s website to view here work .