About Stéf and Ceramic Fabrics

I am a Designer Maker who specialises in hand built porcelain vessels. I use fabrics and sprig moulds to impress and embellish porcelain. My work is inspired by a love of quilts and cotton bedding and it is the fabric-like qualities of my designs that characterize my recent work. The subtle use of pastel tinted glazes to strong black and white hand painted designs with hints of lustre create a contemporary and highly original vessel.

Brief Résumé

I worked at The Alston Pottery from 1990-99; a family run studio pottery located high in the Pennines. My father, Walter Storey, Harrow trained potter, mentored and encouraged me to learn sculpting and mould-making to produce collaborative works. My brother Stefan Storey, Dartington pottery trained, taught me glaze technology and decoration methods. During the 1990s my work could be seen in selected galleries and shops in and around Cumbria.

In 2005 I attended the University of Cumbria as a professional development to further my practice and working knowledge. I achieved a First Class B.A Hons in Contemporary Applied Arts, specialising in Ceramics.

I was then selected to exhibit at the New Designers in London and it was there that I was invited to become a licentiate of the Society of Designer Craftsman. I exhibited at the Society’s London based SDC gallery, “Genesis 08” from November to January. “The Vessel” in Clackmannanshire in Scotland, featured my white on white work from February to April 2008. I took part in an International ceramics exhibition ‘La tasse et sa sous-tasse’ at Carouge in Switzerland, 19th September to 1st November 2009.

Currently my work can be found in “Hesta Scene?” at Caldbeck Gallery, Cumbria – “Cambridge Contemporary Arts”, Cambridgeshire – “Staacks”, Wirral. “The Bessemer Gallery” The Winter Garden in Sheffield.

I regularly attend BCTF in Harrogate in the Spring and “POTFEST” in Penrith, Cumbria at the beginning of August.