Wee Ladies

At Drey Workshop we take pride in making pieces for homes, however living and working in close proximity to the beautiful wild nature of Argyll, I have a yearning for our work to be ‘discovered’ within the landscape. Two summers ago I took part in an archeological dig at Tarbert castle on Loch Fyne, and the process of uncovering fragments of past lives was addictive, medieval clay jug handles with the potter’s thumb prints clearly visible, buttons, coins, iron tools eroded until almost unrecognisable, and of course, victorian pottery shards often with plant inspired patterns.

Museums all over the world have beautiful examples of small prehistoric clay ‘venus’ figures. These depict archetypical simplified female forms often with exaggerated features. I decided to make our earthenware ‘wee ladies’ and decorate them with shapes inspired by the Tarbert dig. These are small, only 12cm high and I imagine them ideally being ‘found’ in woods. Perhaps a small spot of gold lustre glinting in the dappled sunlight catching the eye of a observant woodland walker.

Of course treasure in the woods is hard to come by and I think the ladies would be just as happy living near your house plants!