Camden Clay

Bath, England

Hello I'm Steve Kamlish. My thing is words on plates. I'm interested in typographic quotes, idioms and slang all related to food. The history of a word or phrase fascinates me and I love breathing new life into an obscure saying, slang or film quote.

My work is all hand made from our home studio in Bath. The kiln sits in a vault beneath the pavement of Camden Road.

The story behind the business
Meet Camden Clay

We founded Camden Clay in 2022. It's now a family affair. Roz Streeten (my wife) makes Sicilian inspired head pots and Sophie Kamlish (our daughter) is interested in character led plates. I do type on plates, jugs and vases.

I was a reluctant participant at the start when Roz bought a kiln after lock down. I became jealous of her and Sophie's enthusiasm, watching them busily making stuff on the kitchen table. However hard I tried, I just couldn’t think of a way in that would satisfy my graphic and type design inclinations.

The entry point came to me when I looked back at my favourite film quotes related to food. Monty Python’s iconic sketch featuring the exploding Mr Creosote with the immortal words 'It’s only wafer thin’ was my first attempt. Very basic in construction but enough to spur me on to make more and improve my craft skills.

Idiom and slang food quotes followed and now I obsessively think and dream in idioms!

My process starts with rolling out a circle of clay and pressing it into a plaster cast mould of a plate. I then design and use laser cut stencils, through which I paint coloured slips and underglazes.

I've recently had four of my plates in an exhibition at Messums Gallery, Wiltshire and ran a plate making and decorating workshop for a forthcoming exhibition at Towner Gallery, Eastbourne.

founder Credentials

Camden Clay Studio, Bath

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