Meet The Team

Finola Thomas

Finola is the owner of Fishponds Pottery, she is a gifted communicator and teacher with an MA in Design and Visual Research from Brighton University. Finola is a contemporary ceramicist – her work focuses on exploring form through wheel thrown sculpture, drawing inspiration from 1930’s weaving machinery. She has been teaching throwing since 2014 and states that throwing is a craft that takes practice, patience, and persistence.

Here at Fishponds Pottery we believe everyone can attain this skill, our workshops and courses are designed to be a relaxed start on your ceramic journey.

Lucy Turner

Lucy is our head studio technician and a graduate from the Ceramics BA at Cardiff School of Art and Design. She has been throwing since 2017 and makes and sells her own pots, alongside working and teaching at Fishponds Pottery.

Lucy’s own work draws on British studio pottery tradition, she makes functional wheel thrown pots designed to be used and loved everyday.

Lucy teaches our beginners plus and intermediate courses – she provides a structured and supportive learning environment and aims to build your confidence at the wheel.

Follow Lucy on Instagram: @lucyturnerceramic

Caitlin Wilson

Caitlin is a multimedia artist who, within the realm of ceramics, works with both throwing techniques and handbuilding. She has been working with ceramics since 2020, after studying illustration at UWE, where she discovered a passion for clay and began exploring ways to combine illustration with ceramics. Initially focused on thrown forms, she has since developed her skills in handbuilding and slip decoration, now combining these approaches to create unique pieces. Her work ranges from one-of-a-kind statement pieces inspired by medieval illustrations and old paintings to vibrant, contemporary ceramics influenced by modern makers.

Caitlin is one of our studio technicians as well as a teacher on our beginners courses and workshops.

Follow Caitlin on Instagram: @caitlinwilsonceramics

Lucy Cheminais

Lucy is a skilled and knowledgeable ceramicist with over 25 years’ experience. She creates hand-built and thrown wares that are both aesthetically pleasing and functional. As a resident and tutor at Fishponds Pottery, Lucy draws on her research into studio pottery traditions, with a particular focus on ash glazes. Influenced by traditional ceramic practices, she explores how natural materials and historic techniques can inform contemporary ceramics.

Lucy teaches our 6 week hand building course.

Follow Lucy on Instagram: @lucycheminaisceramics

Rachel

Rachel is a multi-media practitioner who offers a variety of workshops for all ages through her business The Crafty Social Club, such as Vintage Collage Club. She loves colour and texture in her clay work and is inspired by colourful dripping, reactive glazes in pottery from 1970’s. She is primarily a handbuilding tutor on our Crafty Friday sessions.

Rachel loves that clay is such an accessible and versatile medium, and that anyone can come along to the sessions and have a play with clay. She is a big believer in that joy should be in the process of making and not necessarily worry about what the outcome will be.

Follow Rachel on Instagram: @thecraftysocialclub

Petros

Petros began his pottery journey six years ago, finding his passion during his first lessons on the potter’s wheel in Athens, Greece, with the guidance of the awarded ceramist Stavros Perakis. His practice further evolved a year later when he enrolled in a fine art course at UWE Bristol. Today, Petros’s work is focused on functional ware, with a strong emphasis on material selection and a playful approach to familiar forms.

Petros teaches onto our weekend workshops.

Follow Petros on Instagram: @earthwatersoul_ceramics

Holly

Holly Worland Young is a wildlife ceramic artist specialising in sculpting marine creatures such as whales, crabs, nudibranchs, and the occasional land animal. Holly studied Fine Art at Falmouth University and has been making ceramics since 2020, and teaching since 2022.

Holly teaches our weekend workshops.

Follow Holly on Instagram: @holly_worland_young

Jenny

Jenny Penelhum makes small batch ceramic tableware from her studio in South Bristol. All her work is thrown on the wheel and finished by her.

She’s constantly drawn to the earthy tones and texture found naturally in the clay body. She aims to present the clay in all its glory in her finished pieces.

Alongside making, Jenny loves teaching pottery. She says, ”It’s a two-way exchange for me — sharing skills while learning new perspectives from others. Helping people bring their ideas to life through problem-solving and conversation is a really rewarding part of my practice.”
Jenny teaches our weekend workshops.

Follow Jenny on Instagram: @spillthetea_studio

Jesse

Jesse looks after marketing, communications and outreach at Fishponds Pottery. She studied Design and Craft at the University of Brighton, where she met Finola, and has worked across creative businesses ever since. Jesse also offers freelance marketing support for small businesses.

Follow Jesse on Instagram: @itsbyjesse