Design studio Feldspar's idyllic home and pottery in Devon
The wilds of Dartmoor encapsulate a particular form of English romanticism – it is a place for long, soggy walks underneath steely skies heavy with the promise of rain. It is reputedly inhabited by pixies, a headless horseman and a pack of spectral hounds, not to mention Jay’s grave, an eighteenth-century burial site that is never without posies of fresh flowers that appear magically under the cover of night. In short, Dartmoor is a far cry from the din of English city life, apart, perhaps, from the drizzle.
Cath and Jeremy Brown had no intention of abandoning London. In fact, they were looking to buy a house there. ‘Life was great,’ says Cath. ‘It was busy, but all our friends were there. We honestly said we’d never move away.’ She was heavily pregnant and on maternity leave from her job as an architectural designer, and Jeremy was more or less doing a weekly commute to Nairobi, where he was working for the United Nations, helping luxury fashion houses like Vivienne Westwood and Stella McCartney build sustainable and ethical supply chains across Africa.
On one of Jeremy’s brief stints at home, he happened to be trawling the internet for properties to buy. With prices soaring at a dispiriting rate, he typed in Devon – where his family is from – on a whim. ‘We realised we could practically buy a farmhouse for the price of a shoebox-sized flat in London,’ says Cath. This incentive was enough to persuade them to let go of their London-based life and, within three months, they had quit their jobs and rented a house on the edge of Dartmoor. The plan was for a brief period of recuperation in which to consider: what next?
But with Christmas three months away and both sides of the family descending for the holiday, Cath and Jeremy’s initial concern was having enough chairs for their parents, siblings and offspring to sit on and enough plates for everyone to eat off. ‘Jeremy built the kitchen table and we bought a wheel from a potter in the middle of Dartmoor, so we could throw bowls, cups and plates,’ Cath explains. Christmas came and went, and the pair continued to make things. Both were reluctant to return to London, and Cath soon realised that working at a local architectural firm would mean ‘leaving the house at 7am and getting back at 7pm – on a good day’. With the arrival of their son Milo, this was simply not an option.
‘We’d always imagined we’d do something creative together in the future, but now seemed as good a time as any, so we began to focus on the ceramics,’ says Cath. What started out of necessity was formalised into a design studio, Feldspar – named after a mineral that is abundant on Dartmoor. The house had no internet, no mobile-phone signal and, for a long time, no landline. As a result, the pair had to study books on pottery to learn their trade. ‘When Wi-Fi did arrive, it was the worst connection known to mankind,’ recalls Cath. ‘But YouTube eventually became a useful tool.’
Both of them had started out in creative fields. After studying furniture and 3D design at university in London, Jeremy had returned to Devon and worked for retired businessman Mike Ludgrove, who was building his own yacht. This project was a good introduction to fine craftsmanship but, ultimately, Feldspar was a matter of trial, error and eventual triumph. The brand launched at the end of 2016, and its pieces were sold in the V&A shop early the following year. The list of stockists now includes Alex Eagle, Soho Farmhouse and Fortnum & Mason.
The key to Cath and Jeremy’s success lies in the beautiful imperfections of the pieces they create. Their first object was a 7oz coffee cup. Handmade from fine bone china with a pleasingly dimpled profile, the cup is elegant and wonky all at once. The delicate curved handle is decorated with a lick of blue paint in homage to traditional blue and white tableware.
‘One of our slightly embarrassing worries about moving to Devon was not being able to find really good coffee,’ admits Cath. ‘We fixed up a semi-broken coffee machine given to us by a friend and, as our approach has been first and foremost to make things we need, the coffee cup was an obvious starting point.’ Teapots, jugs, candlesticks, plates, bowls, eggcups and butter dishes followed soon after. Cath and Jeremy also sell soaps and candles crafted on the north coast of Devon. Lambswool blankets of their own design are made in a family-owned mill in Hawick, a Scottish Borders town that is known for its fine knitwear.
Since Feldspar launched, Cath and Jeremy have moved to a higgledy-piggledy fifteenth-century farmhouse not far from Dartmoor and have had another child, Beatrix. They have also acquired Bernie, a vast pointer cross, who gambols around the surrounding fields like an oversized foal.
The house could not be further from their tiny London flat. Just like their pottery, it is delightfully idiosyncratic with no obvious front door and no fewer than eight ways to enter. There is a double-height kitchen with large glass doors, from which the treehouse Jeremy built can be glimpsed. There is also a pottery, workshop and shed, stocked with firewood coppiced from the surrounding woodland, and there are plans afoot for a forge.
They have expanded their range, too, and started experimenting with clay dug up from the garden. ‘It is earthenware with china clay running through it,’ says Cath. ‘We’ve processed it and are making small batch ceramics, which come out a lovely burnt-orange colour.’ The end goal is to design and build their own home. ‘We want to make everything – from the bathroom tiles to the taps and loo,’ says Cath. In preparation, they are experimenting with upcycling. ‘Sometimes when bone china is fired, it will fracture and become unusable. We grind it down and mix it with bio resin to create furniture. We want to close the loop and make sure there is no waste.’
Their process is remarkably collaborative. Cath might sketch out the design for a cup, Jeremy will make the mould, Cath might suggest some alterations, Jeremy will make it and Cath will hand-finish it. ‘We’re brutally honest with each other, so we don’t have any office politics. By not having to tread lightly, we save a lot of time,’ says Cath. ‘The reason we started the business was because we didn’t want to compromise on anything. In our previous jobs, there were a lot of good intentions at the start of a project but they would inevitably be watered down, so e the end product and the intended product were quite different things. Feldspar is about doing things properly.’
Cath and Jeremy are a good example of what is happening to many of London’s young makers and designers who, as they get priced out of the capital, are exploring new locations. This creative exodus is not always a good thing, but it is heartening to see what can happen when it works. Together, Cath and Jeremy have come up with a winning formula that combines a seemingly endless list of ideas, a gung-ho spirit and a good dollop of chutzpah with a genuine ability to craft beautiful things.
Feldspar: feldspar.studio
Michael Sinclair1/26The Browns live in a fifteenth-century farmhouse on the edge of Dartmoor
Michael Sinclair2/26Cath and Jeremy in their garden with daughter Beatrix and son Milo. The lambswool blanket is a Feldspar design
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Michael Sinclair8/26Cath, Milo, Beatrix and Bernie in the sitting room
Michael Sinclair9/26Lunch with Exploding Bakery co-founder Oliver Coysh in Cath and Jeremy's kitchen which looks out onto the garden
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Michael Sinclair11/26This stool, in front of an eighteenth-century screen in the spare room, was the first piece of furniture Jeremy made after he and Cath moved to Devon
Michael Sinclair12/26Milo in the spare room with Bernie the pointer cross
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Michael Sinclair14/26Some of the ceramics are made using moulds
Michael Sinclair15/26A fine china coffee cup was the starting point for Feldspar's collection of ceramic tableware
Michael Sinclair16/26The ceramic pieces are all finished by hand - Cath is seen here working on a coffee cup with a gold-painted handle
Michael Sinclair17/26Jeremy turning a bowl
Michael Sinclair18/26Recently, Cath and Jeremy have been experimenting with clay from their garden to create prototypes such as these earthenware mugs
Michael Sinclair19/26Cath working on a sugar bowl with a handle painted in cobalt blue
Michael Sinclair20/26Cath's sugar bowl
Michael Sinclair21/26Walking on Dartmoor
Michael Sinclair22/26On Windout Farm with Sam and Felicity
Michael Sinclair23/26Dartmoor is known for its wild ponies
Michael Sinclair24/26Jeremy with Mike Ludgrove just outside Exeter on Mike's yacht, Helena, which Jeremy helped to build
Michael Sinclair25/26At Windout Barn, a local events space, with its owners Sam and Felicity Ursell
Michael Sinclair26/26At Exploding Bakery in Exeter with its co-founder Tom Oxford
