Material Source Studio curates Colour Stories: Baked Clay.

Rustic. Organic. Grounded in nature. Terracotta is elemental. It is of the earth.

Crafted from clay, forged underground over millennia. A melding of rock and stone worn down to sediment, engaging with water, and heated by magma. Brought back to life through human impression. Taking on a spectrum of patina over the course of its life, from buff when raw to scorched orange when cooked, it is never stagnant. It is ever changing.

Colour is the most emotive of topics. It makes one feel. It is personal. It is polarising. When it came to launching our first Colour Stories piece - an in-Studio installation and downloadable guide - a source of inspiration that was equally poignant had to be at its centre. Clay immediately sprang to mind.

There’s something otherworldly, almost mystical, about clay and its many states. It offers so much possibility.

And from a colour point of view, it’s interesting in a multitude of ways.

When looking at the beautiful products of our Studio Partners, we took inspiration from the light and dark, tone and shade, echoed in the spectrum of clay’s forms. From understated when raw to deep when fired and pearlescent when glazed.

Textural elements were also mirrored - grooves and grains, dapples and dashes - a joyous secondary benefit. Our favourite combination of all though has to be Baked Clay.

Immerse yourself in the narrative of Baked Clay below, and visit Material Source Studio Manchester to explore the product moodboards in situ. We hope you enjoy this first Colour Story as much as we did in putting it together. And we can’t wait to see how you interpret it in your schemes.