Paula Armstrong Ceramics

Something that popped into my head the other day...

Why do we expect visual artists to put their work into words before it's considered worthy? Before it gets shown, reviewed, or bought?

Here's the thing: many of us work visually BECAUSE it's the language we find easiest. The form, the texture, the way something sits in space... that's us expressing something we literally couldn't say any other way. Asking us to then articulate it back into a written explanation asks us to do the very thing we found difficult in the first place.

And so much of making is unconscious. You don't always know what you're expressing until you see it finished. Sometimes you don't fully understand it yourself until a stranger looks at it and tells you what they see.

Is that a failure? Or is that actually how art is supposed to work?

I genuinely don't think there's one answer here. But I'd love to hear different perspectives. Artists, makers, collectors, people who love art but don't make it... what do you think?

Does the expectation to explain our work in words serve the art? Or does it reflect an old academic tradition that, however well-intentioned, ends up quietly shutting some people out?

⏰ Last day to save 20% on Creative Clay!

Just a reminder that today is the final day of the special launch price for Creative Clay, the app I developed to help you explore clay making in a guided, thoughtful way, no matter your level.

Each session takes you through a real creative process. This photo is from one of the projects inside, Explore Your Theme in Clay, where you translate ideas into physical form using simple clay maquettes. It's hands on, intuitive, and genuinely fun.

If you've been curious and waiting for the right moment, this is it!

🔗 https://www.studio.com/paula-armstrong

Grab your 20% off before midnight tonight. I'd love to see you inside. 🤎

I need your help — and I think you might enjoy this one 💛

I'm dreaming ahead to a solo exhibition in 2027, and I'm in the early stages of thinking about where it should live.

My work uses nature as its language. Seed pods, sea forms, the microscopic structures inside living things — all of it a way of asking what it means to be human, to carry something hidden inside us, to be both fragile and quietly resilient. For a long time I've imagined those sculptures somewhere that adds its own layer of meaning. Not necessarily a standard white-walled space, but somewhere that *feels* like the work.

Maybe a walled garden. A forest. A glasshouse or botanical garden. A decommissioned building with a history. A science museum. Somewhere that makes people pause before they've even looked at a single piece.

Do you know of a venue that fits that description? Anywhere in the UK — galleries, alternative spaces, outdoor settings, unusual buildings, private estates... I'm genuinely open. If something comes to mind, please drop it in the comments or send me a message. You might just be the one who finds it 🌿

👉 www.parmstrongceramics.co.uk

Thrilled to share that my work is part of Under the Skin of Things — an international online group exhibition running throughout August, organised by Cista Arts. ✨

The title says it all really. It's a show about what we don't immediately see — what hides beneath, what waits to be uncovered. Themes that sit right at the heart of what I make.

I'm in wonderful company: 30+ artists from around the world, all bringing work that asks you to look a little harder and feel a little deeper.

Best of all it's entirely online, so you can explore whenever suits you.

👉 https://www.cistaarts.com/groupexhibitions/undertheskinofthings

I'd love to know what strikes you if you have a browse 💛

Something I want to share with you today…

When I started thinking about Creative Clay, it wasn’t really about the app. It was about a question that had been sitting with me for years: How do I reach the people who want this, but can’t get here?

My studio is my favourite place in the world. But I know not everyone can walk through its doors. Distance, time, confidence, life — they all get in the way.

So I asked myself — what if I could bring the teaching, the structure, the encouragement, right to them? That’s what this app is.

I hope it finds the right people. 💛

https://www.studio.com/paula-armstrong — 20% off until August 7th.

Picture waking up here.

Old Rectory House, Somerset Coast. Morning light through the window of your shepherd's hut. No agenda until you're ready. Breakfast when it suits you. The day opening slowly.

Outside: fields, coast, sky you've not looked at properly in months. Inside: a table, clay, brushes, women you've somehow known for years even though you only met on Friday.

This is what the container looks like. The old farmhouse holds the weekend — meals made with care, a fire on Saturday night, space between the making to just be.

We chose this place deliberately. Some spaces make you feel like you have to perform. This one doesn't. It just holds you.

Find Your Fire and Flow — 28-30 August 2026. Ten women. All-inclusive. A few places still open.

More here: https://sites.google.com/view/elementalartflow/find-your-fire-weekend-retreat