From civil engineering to clay: a new life as a Menston maker

I am a ceramicist based in Menston, creating small-batch stoneware and porcelain pieces for everyday life, from mugs and tableware to bakeware and garden pieces. 

My route into pottery hasn't been straightforward. I grew up in East Germany and first discovered clay when I was 11. I loved the simple alchemy of it: taking a soft, ordinary material and turning it into something both beautiful and useful.

But life took me in a different direction and I trained as a civil engineer, spending almost two decades working on high-speed rail projects across Europe and Asia. 

In 2017, I made the decision to leave engineering and turn to clay. It was a leap but also a return to something that had stayed with me for years. My family and I moved from London to West Yorkshire in 2019, looking for a quieter, more rooted life.

We restored a rather dilapidated country home, fitting it with a new roof and tackling everything from the electrics to the layout, while gradually bringing its overgrown garden back to life.

The sense of making, repairing and growing has become part of my work. I’m a keen gardener and the changing seasons, colours and textures around our home are a constant source of inspiration.

I make pottery to be lived with: a favourite mug in the morning, a serving dish brought out when friends come round, or a bowl that quietly becomes part of a family’s everyday rituals. I also enjoy adding that little extra, like a lasagne dish designed to fit two sheets without breaking the edges. In its own way, that feels like engineering the clay.

One of the most meaningful threads in my work is my signature blue glaze. The recipe was passed on to me by an elderly German potter I met while living in London. I feel very lucky to be its custodian.

It has taken years of careful testing and refining to understand it fully and it continues to evolve with every firing. There is something very special about carrying a piece of another maker’s knowledge forward in this way. 

Working from Menston has given me a connection to a brilliant local community, customers and fellow potters. I also teach pottery, which is one of the most rewarding parts of what I do: seeing people slow down, work with their hands and discover what they can make from a lump of clay. 

For me, pottery is about more than the finished object. It is about taking time, paying attention and creating things with a story behind them. After years spent working on large-scale projects around the world, there is a real pleasure in making something small, useful and enduring – right here in West Yorkshire.

You can find out more about Nadine and her work at Nadine Blakemore Ceramics. It's also home to a shop.