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Do What You Love interview – Tone von Krogh

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I was captivated by Tone von Krogh’s beautiful ceramic work when I saw her stand at the Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair. There was something in her colours that called me back to one of my favourite places on earth – Antarctica. I have since found that Tone’s palette is actually inspired by the snowy Norwegian winter landscape, and I am thrilled to have this opportunity to share more of her gorgeous work with you.  Tone has exhibited widely in the UK as well as in Norway, France, the US and Dubai.

Tone von Krogh - on the wheel

1. What does doing what you love mean to you?

Doing what I love is essential for my wellbeing. This is something I only really started to appreciate after I had children and took a short break from it. Being able to come back to ceramics and doing it full time again has filled me with new and energized enthusiasm, strength and motivation. There is a deep sense of joy and fulfillment in being involved in the earthy material of clay and its transformation into ceramic objects. I feel grateful for every day I can spend in the studio. I think it makes me a better person to be with for my man and children, too!

Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh bottle display

2. How did you get into ceramics?

My first memory of clay is from when I was 6. The soil in our garden was largely clay (to my green fingered and organic veg growing mother’s dismay). I remember spending hours digging out big lumps of clay, shaping them into bowls and vases and drying them in the sun.

This early fascination led me to ceramics electives, evening classes and extra art lessons at school, followed by an apprenticeship at the pottery at The Norwegian Folk Museum in Oslo until finally completing a Degree in Three Dimensional Design in Manchester in 1995.

Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh DSC 4063

3. What influence has your Scandinavian background had on your creations?

I have always had a strong love for Scandinavian – and particularly Norwegian – cultural heritage and folk tales. My early collections drew inspiration from functional items and architecture such as the butter “Tine”, the large wooden chests and Viking ships as well as Scandinavian woodlands and coastal landscapes. My current collection “Vinter” is directly inspired, as the name suggests, by winter and snow covered landscapes. The shapes are soft with indentations and bulges added to hint at something under the surface. After a heavy snow fall, all sounds are muted and objects become unrecognizable with sharp edges rounded. In a landscape, a bulge in the snow may cover a rock or a small tree or a manmade object.

It is this feeling of mystery, or lack of obviousness, that I am trying to express in the surfaces of my pieces, despite the main shape of the piece reflecting a function.

Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh norway

Tone’s homeland of Norway

4. I absolutely love the colours you use. Where does that palette come from?

The colours of the matte glazes are inspired by the colours of the winter skies, snow and ice. I mix all the glazes myself from raw materials based on a base glaze recipe a friend shared with me many years ago. I have great fun experimenting with oxides to achieve the colours  I want. A shop in Paris asked if I did any shades of grey. This really inspired me to go in a slightly different direction. I developed a slightly speckled glaze nicely reflecting the colours of Norwegian granite – but I call it Manchester as it also reminds me of the sky I see from my studio window many days.

Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh Teacup icegreen final

5. What is the main challenge you have come up against in getting your business off the ground?

With ceramics in particular, but a lot of other craft practices, one of the main obstacles when leaving college and setting up on your own, is to decide on and be able to afford the pieces of equipment needed to carry out your practice. Kilns and wheels are very expensive and ceramics also demand a lot of space, making the choice of studios limited. I was very lucky in being offered a residency at Wysing Arts in Cambridge where they had a ceramics studio fully equipped as well as accommodation at my disposal in return for designing and making a range of tableware for the café at the Art Centre.

Being at Wysing was the great catalyst in getting my business off the ground. I was able to make my own work at minimal initial outlay and I was working alongside well established makers as well as other new starters. The networking was fantastic.

 Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh IMGP7597

6. What has been the biggest boost to your business along the way? 

It was through the networking at Wysing that I got introduced to the Prince’s Trust Youth Business Fund who offered me loan to buy transport as well as a personal business mentor and discounted stands at trade shows such as Top Drawer Autumn in London. I exhibited at British Craft Trade Fair and Top Drawer Autumn and through these trade shows got enough orders from galleries in the UK and overseas to keep me going through the first year.

My residency at Wysing got extended and slowly and steadily I built my business up, purchasing vital equipment in stages, rather than all at once. After a year’s residency, I took out a lease of a studio at the centre. I carried on doing the two trade shows every year and built up a healthy regular customer base as well as gaining new ones.

The shows are still a vital part in moving the business on. I have recently been focusing on selected retail shows such as Great Northern Contemporary Craft Fair in Manchester and Made by Hand in South Wales. The next show I will be exhibiting at is the Contemporary Craft Festival in Devon in June this year.

Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh tone on the wheel

7. What is the best thing about working for yourself, creating things you love?

There are so many good things about working for myself. My two favorite parts are:

1) The sheer tactile delight in working in clay gives me an immense sense of calm and happiness

2) the feeling you get of truly loving your job when you have had an  idea for a design, you have made it, fired it and the glaze has worked  really well and a complete stranger comes up to you at an exhibition and tells you how much they love it. That gives me a real buzz and justification for doing what I love.

Do What You Love interview - Tone von Krogh Teacup detai final

8. What is your big dream for your creative business?

In lots of ways I feel so privileged being able to do what I do – just being able to carry on growing my collection and exhibiting in new places would be enough.

However, I have over the years dabbled in curatorial work as a freelancer and exhibition coordinator at Manchester Craft and Design Centre, and one of my dreams have long been to open a high quality Contemporary Craft Gallery. As much as I love making, I am also very enthusiastic about the amount fantastic work being made by some very talented makers in this country and internationally. Working in an environment surrounded by my favorite pieces, combined with making my own from time to time would be a dream come true!

[All images courtesy of Tone von Krogh.]

Tone currently works from a purpose built studio in her garden (in Manchester, UK) where she also teaches classes and runs workshops. Find out more about Tone and her work and workshops here or connect on Facebook here.

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