January 2025: Recipient 52, Francesca Dourado
Happy new year you lot!!!!!! New month means a new grant recipient, and we are happy to announce that we’ll be giving the 52nd monthly creatives grant to Bristol-based artist Francesca Dourado -> @francesca_dourado. In the early stages of her practice as a ceramicist, Francesca makes work that looks like melting seashells, inverted glassy irises and perfect little relics from grandparents’ cupboards. We can’t wait to see more of it — aaand since we sent her a message offering her this month’s grant, Francesca has been announced as one of the contestants on this year’s Great Pottery Throw Down! We have great taste, it’s confirmed. We’re psyched other people will get to see her creations and we hope this £500 helps her on the way :)
We don’t expect any concrete goals when people put themselves forward for the grant but Francesca mentioned opening a studio space in which she could ‘encourage other BAME potters to discover their craft in a community which is massively underrepresented in the ceramics world.’ We liked imagining that, because we like imagining a world in which there is no need to talk of representation or underrepresentation, because everyone is invited to the table — because everyone gets to be an artist.
BIO
Francesca Dourado is an artist based in Bristol, specializing in ceramics. Her love for the medium was ignited in 2023 when she undertook an intensive pottery course in India, where she discovered a deep passion for the craft. Since then, ceramics has become both a creative outlet and a personal journey, allowing her to explore the delicate balance between form and function. Drawing inspiration from the natural world, Francesca’s work blends organic shapes with modern design, with a particular focus on wood-fired ceramics. This technique gives unique textures and earthy tones, each one telling its own story. With a relentless curiosity and an unwavering passion for ceramics, Francesca continues to evolve as an artist, creating pieces that are as much about the process as they are about the finished form.
LINKS
- Here’s Francesca’s instagram