Born in Tokyo, Yo Thom started her ceramics career after moving to the UK to study Three Dimensional Design at the Kent Institute of Art and Design. While completing a BA and MA in Ceramics she worked under Lisa Hammond MBE at Maze Hill Pottery, learning most of the practical pottery skills and techniques for making functional tableware.

Yo has cited the Japanese ceramic tradition of Nezumi Shino as her biggest inspiration, the distinct grey colour and lined patterns of which she has masterfully reproduced in her stoneware and porcelain. She decorates her tableware and ornamental vessels using her own indigo slip with sgraffito decoration and a white glaze on the top.

Now working out of Shaftesbury, she continues to blend Japanese creativity with inspiration from the Dorset landscape around her.

Gallery - click images to enlarge