Hi, I’m Nicky – Co-Director of Hartley & Noble. We’ve been designing and making pottery tools since 2019. Over the years I’ve had the pleasure of meeting hundreds of potters. Listening to their stories, seeing what they create and hearing how much enjoyment pottery brings eventually inspired me to have a go myself. After a couple of taster sessions, I started learning ‘properly’ around two years ago. Every time I’m in the studio I discover something new. More than anything, I’ve come to understand why so many of our customers fell in love with pottery.
One of the things I enjoy most is learning from other potters. Sometimes it’s a new technique, a simple tip, or just hearing about a mistake someone else has already made (so I don’t make it myself!) That’s exactly what inspired us to create our Community Blog.
Why I’d Love You to Write for Us
Our Pottery Blog is a place where hobby potters, professional makers, and pottery teachers can share their experiences with one another.
You don’t need to be a recognised expert and you certainly don’t need to have all the answers. There’s no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ way here. If you’ve learned something through experience, there’s a good chance another potter would enjoy reading about it.
Writing a blog article is a lovely way to introduce yourself and your pottery to our community. Every contributor has an author profile at the end of their article, where they can share their website, social media pages, workshops, classes, online shop or current projects. And we also do our best to promote your article through our website, email newsletter and social media channels.
What Makes a Great Article?
The articles people enjoy reading most are usually honest, practical and personal. They tell a story, share an experience and leave the reader with an idea they might like to try for themselves.
If you fancy writing for us, share something you’re passionate about. It could be a project you enjoyed, a challenge you overcame, a technique that works well for you, or simply something you wish somebody had told you when you first started.
There isn’t one ‘right’ way to make pottery, and we’d love our Community Blog to celebrate the different ways people enjoy working with clay.
What could you write about?
Some of our recent bloggers are featured above. We hope this page will become a growing community of potters who are sharing their ideas, experiences, and inspiration with fellow makers.
A Simple Blog Structure
Most of our blog articles are around 1,000 to 1,200 words, but don’t worry about being exact. Think of it as a guide rather than a rule.
A Simple Structure
1. Start with your story
Introduce yourself, explain why you chose your topic and what inspired you to write it.
[📸Photo suggestion: You in your studio or with your pottery]
2. Share your experience
Tell readers what you did, what worked well, what surprised you and what you’d do differently next time. Use headings, bullet points and photographs to break things up.
[📸Photo suggestion: Work in progress or the technique you’re writing about]
3. Final Thoughts
Finish with a few final thoughts, encouragement or practical tips for readers.
[📸Photo suggestion: Your finished piece or final result]
4. About you
Include a short introduction with your name, location, how you got into pottery and links to your website or social media.
Bring Your Story to Life with Photos
When writing your blog, please include a selection of accompanying photographs. They’ll make it more enjoyable to read and give readers a better feel for what you’re writing about. Try to choose images that help illustrate what you’re writing about, whether that’s your studio, a project, a technique, or simply photographs that help readers connect with your story.
Here’s a collage of some of the photographs I used in one of my own blog articles about a pot plant project. I included images throughout the article to help break up the text and give readers a better feel for what I was writing about.
Before You Send Your Article
Please write from your own experience and in your own voice. You’re very welcome to use AI to help with spelling or grammar, but we’d ask that the ideas and stories are your own.
As the Community Blog is part of the Hartley & Noble website, we ask that articles don’t promote products or businesses that directly compete with our own. You’re very welcome to tell readers about your pottery, classes, workshops, studio, website or social media, but we’d like the focus of your article to be sharing your experiences (rather than promoting competing products or services).
Our Community Blog is a friendly, welcoming place for everyone who enjoys pottery. Please keep articles respectful and considerate of others. We don’t publish material that is offensive, discriminatory, political, or appears to have been copied from other sources.
We may make small edits for spelling, grammar, formatting and layout while keeping your own voice and message.
How to Submit Your Article
Please email your article to [email protected]
• Submit your article as a Word document (.docx)
• Attach your photographs as separate JPEG files
• Add simple notes to show us where each photo should appear in your blog.
Example:
[Insert Photo 1 – Me in my studio]
[Insert Photo 2 – The project or technique I’m writing about]
[Insert Photo 3 – The finished result]
This makes it much easier for us to prepare your article for the website.
Thank You & Happy Writing!
Thank you for considering writing for the Hartley & Noble Community Blog. We can’t wait to read your story.
Nicky 💐
