Studio Pieces

Freddie Mercury plate – 36 cm diameter
Title – “The Immortal Red Queen of the Perpetual Night”
Executed 2022
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The form of wheel thrown red Staffordshire earthenware, illustrated with a portrait of Freddie Mercury.
Background of high colour reminisent of Pop Art using slipware traditions of slip trailing and painting.
Finished with a transparent gloss glaze.

Box framed in a high gloss black lacquer moulding and glazed with Conservation Clear® Glass (2.5mm thickness)
Signed and dated, and impressed ‘KS’ on the back

Queen Elizabeth II – 36 cm diameter

Title: ‘The Celestial White Queen of Unceasing Sorrow’
Executed 2022
—
The form of wheel thrown red Staffordshire earthenware, illustrated with a portrait of the Queen of the United Kingdom.
Background of high colour reminisent of Pop Art using slipware traditions of slip trailing and painting.
Finished with a transparent gloss glaze.

Box framed in a high gloss black lacquer moulding and glazed with Conservation Clear® Glass (2.5mm thickness)
Signed and dated, and impressed ‘KS’ on the back

Made in 2021. Sold to a private collection.

A studio piece and part of the collection of work on ‘Restorative Nostalgia’. ‘Mr Whippy Jar’, stop me and buy one!

A SLIPWARE JAR, 54 CM TALL

EXECUTED 2021. EARTHENWARE

The form of coil built red Staffordshire earthenware illustrated with ice creams against White, Red, Blue, Mauve and Yellow spots on a black ground using slipware traditions of slip trailing, painting, and finished with a transparent gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation gas firing.

Made in 2019 Sold in Auction by Bonhams to a private collection

19 Jun 2019 = Lot 114

KITTY SHEPHERD (British, 1960-)

An ‘Iconic FAB Lolly’ Slipware Vase, executed 2019

The form of coil built red Staffordshire earthenware illustrated with ice lollies against white spots on a black ground using slipware traditions of slip trailing, painting and sgraffito, and finished with a transparent gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Auction results Lot 114

Made in 2019 Sold in Auction by Bonhams to a private collection

19 Jun 2019 – Lot 115

KITTY SHEPHERD (British, 1960-)

A Large ‘Beetle (Cydianirus ornatus)’ Slipware Vase, executed 2019

The form of coil built red Staffordshire earthenware illustrated with beetles against orange and white spots on a black ground using slipware traditions of slip trailing, painting and sgraffito, and finished with a transparent gloss glaze  to 1120°C oxidation firing.

34.4 cm high, signed and dated, and impressed ‘KS’

Auction results Lot 115

Made in 2019 to be sold in Auction by Bonhams on 13th November 2019 at 13.00 GMT.

Made in 2019 to be sold in Auction by Bonhams on 13th November 2019 at 13.00 GMT

Kitty Shepherd (British, born 1960)
Lot No. 150 – ‘Mariposa Nocturna’: A Large Slipware Vase, executed 2019
Depicting 12 species of butterflies and moths from around the world, the form of coil built red Staffordshire earthenware and decorated with applied slips with sgrafitto; on a background of pale duck-egg blue slip with a transparent gloss glaze finish inside and out

Callimorpha equitalis (Chinese tiger moth)
Mesosemia croesus (Croesus eye-mark butterfly)
Hestia lynceus (Tree-nymph butterfly)
Atmandia lidderdali (Bhutan glory, swallow tail butterfly)
Neochera mamorea (Moth)
Delias castaneus (Butterfly)
Arachnis dilecta (Moth)
Euplagia quadripunctaria (Jersey tiger moth)
Troides priamus (New Guinea birdwing butterfly)
Callicore lyca (butterfly)
Luropterix apollonia (Apollo metalmark butterfly)
Pharmacophagus antenor (Madagascar giant swallowtail butterfly)

Made in 2019 Sold to a private collection

The orange Mivvi Ice creams form the starting point to further works investigating the idea of art which is a restorative for nostalgia. This vase has been made as a stand-alone piece.  I am very drawn to the high colour of these lollies; the image of the Mivvi lolly has been kicking about in my mind for a couple of years now, working it onto a spotted background has been immensely satisfying and challenging.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering, trailing and fine jewelling. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Painting By Numbers – A Lipstick Jar Dec 2018.  Available

This is a current studio piece and part of the ongoing study and collection of work on ‘Restorative Nostalgia’.

This piece is the result of a large body of work which has developed as a response and a desire to create a factual record of lipstick names. As a result, unexpected urban stories are revealed within each name. A lot of research both in terms of ceramic colour and lipstick history has gone into the finished pieces. The tubes fall into contemporary, vintage and discontinued categories. Every tube of lipstick records the actual name, the colours and tubes of these small icons are all faithful renditions of their original form.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Date completed 2018-12-20.

The Lipstick Vase – Made 2017 – Sold to private collection

‘The Colours of Disarmament’ was completed at the end of 2016 and fired in the early months of 2017, it is coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration.

This theme has developed as a response and a desire to record nostalgia.  Initially Kitty intended this piece to be bigger. However, once starting it she felt that the complexity of the imagery needed to be captured on a smaller piece.  The fragility of the vessel combined with the conflicting nostalgia and melodrama is reverential in this piece. The painstaking devotion to the painting of the background is as important as the story it tells.

The collection of lipsticks continues with the Lipstick Tablets, a collection of 50 different lipsticks, colours and tubes from the 1940’s to date is in the planning for 2022.

Made in 2014 Sold to a private collection

Combining the undeniable nostalgia of the Mr Whippy or ’99’ with the melodrama of the black background on this piece really worked. The tight pack of the cornets makes it one of the most worked pots I’ve ever made.  Covered in tiny jewelled dots of slip this piece stands out as one of my best slipware jars. It lives in London at a fabulous address!

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering, trailing and fine jeweling. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Made in 2018. The Test Card Bottle has been on loan in Canada and has just arrived back to the studio (July 2019). To enquire for a direct purchase contact the office for details.

The TV Test Card bottle is combination of the Philips PM5544 television test card from 1968 -69 and Test Card G which the BBC transmitted from 1971 to the late 1990s. It was the first electronically generated test card to be broadcast. The image was usually shown when no other programs were being broadcast and was accompanied by big band style music.

Slab build by hand with a small lid. The front width is 15cm. This piece is part of the series of work on Restorative Nostalgia.

Date completed 2018-11-10, signed and dated 2018

Made in 2009 Sold to a private collection

Hand made plate in Staffordshire Earthenware. Sliptrailed and scraffito techniques.

Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Mrs Whippy Ice Cream Jar – Sold to a private collection

This is a current studio piece and part of the ongoing collection of work on ‘Restorative Nostalgia’.

Standing at 21 cm tall this is a small perfectly proportioned intricate jar. This jar was successfully presented at the Crafts Potters Association as part of a group of 6 top chosen pieces. The submitted works were assessed for professional membership at the CPA.

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing. 

Made in 2017 Sold to private collection

Keep smiling!
This piece was conceived 6 months before work began and planned meticulously with endless strips of paper Jelly Babies  – As usual it is all about nostalgia – everybody keep smiling!

I made this because Doctor Who ate Jelly Babies! The Doctor would offer them to strangers in order to defuse tense situations, they were always carried around in a simple white paper bag, this is the BBC and product placement would not do at all. The Twelfth Doctor, Peter Capaldi,  stored his Jelly Babies in a cigarette case and this intrigues me to the point of some new work with the dusty babies.

The history of the Jelly Baby here.

This one is coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing. 

Strawberry Mivvi Jar

Made 2016 – Sold to private collection

With an ice-cream centre and a fruity ice outer shell, Mivvi Ice Creams on a stick were originally made by Lyons Maid in the mid-1950s. At first they were only available in orange but later strawberry and raspberry were added as alternative flavours.

The Mivvi Ice creams formed the starting point to further works investigating ideas associated with nostalgia. The first Mivvi jar was the Orange Mivvi and was swiftly followed by the strawberry.

Red pigments used in this piece are cadmium based, red is one of the most expensive metal oxides used in ceramics, blue is the cheapest, hence the overwhelming quantities of blue and white china.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Made in 2017-18 – Installation sold to a private collection

Recording the lipstick has become a major research project spanning almost three years. Primarily it has involved my locating all the lipsticks in each collection, they are chosen for a variety of reasons, mainly it is the name which I am interested in. Each tube has been colour matched and undergone many test firings using different slip combination. The first wall of Lipsticks, 1 to 35, sold as a whole wall installation to a private collector. I am working on the second collection of 50 tiles which will be finished in May 2022.

All the tablets are a recreation of the original lipsticks from historic and contemporary make-up collections. The names are accurately researched and so are the tubes and colours. More can be read about these items here.

Handmade from red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and painted with coloured slips. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2018 and in my own personal collection

Slab built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. The decoration is intended to ward of casual users of my precious leaf tea.  Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2009 Sold to a private collection.

Heavy cobalt oxide application on this small vase has created an almost matt cratered sky around the plants. Named Tom’s Midnight Garden from the fantasy novel by Philippa Pearce.

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2007 Sold to private collection

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made 2006-7 Sold – private collection

Made to commemorate Concord, this piece is a requiem, a memorial to a great plane. I also made it with love to remember my Mother who flew to New York on the penultimate flight and didn’t return as planned, she was not well and the trip made her much worse, but she wanted to go and she was never the same again.

I started the vase in my studio in Sussex and finished it in Spain. I travelled with it between my legs in the car which was a crazy thing to do; the pot was still clay and damp and at this point with only the four Concords painted. All the small pots of coloured slips were stowed in a bag with my brushes; representing all the material and equipment I needed to finish the piece. My work continued on it when I arrived at what was to be my new Spanish workshop. In the months it took to wait for all my heavy plant and equipment to arrive I sat in a corner in an empty space and painted it to the end.

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2011 Sold to a private collection

Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea is about big fish, little fish all caught in a cats cradle net.

Hand made plate in Staffordshire Earthenware. Sliptrailed and scraffito techniques with fine jeweling. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Made in 2013

Sold – private collection

The first lolly pot, predating the Mivvi series. This piece marks the beginning of the collection of work on Restorative Nostalgia.

Combining nostalgia, melodrama and rockets make this piece quite a handful. It is one of my favourite pieces from this collection. It is in a private collection.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware, painted with slips and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

The Seaside pleasure vase made in 2017 was a delight to make. It is very bright and reminiscent of the Brighton Pavilion with its regency striped background. All slipware techniques used in this piece.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware, painted with slips and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made 2009 Sold to a private collection

Made for the Open Art Competition exhibited at Pallant House. It was awarded the prize of Highly Commended and now lives in a private collection in Chichester West Sussex.

I made this shortly after I moved my studio to Spain, I think I was feeling a little overwhelmed by what I had done and all eyes were on me at this time. I love this shape and I have tried to make it again, but I just do not seem to be able to get it quite as tight as it in here.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering, trailing and fine jeweling. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Made in the closing months of 2016 ‘The Loves of Plants’ Ceramic Ginger Jar was privately commissioned for a home in Edinburgh. The species of plants and flowers have a vague generic link to wild flowers and come together on this piece more in atmosphere than accurate representation.

The title comes from The Botanic Garden 1761 a set of two poems by Erasmus Darwin, the second poem The Loves of Plants promotes, revises and illustrates Linnaeus’s classification scheme for plants.  I have attempted to make a jar which celebrates the feeling of the wildness of ordinary country plants.

I do not make many botanical pieces now. My daughter J R Shepherd is a Botanist and a botanical painter of some note and she now takes the lead in this subject.

More views of this piece can be seen here in my blog post.

The pot is hand coiled from Staffordshire earthenware clay, painted with slips, outlined with scraffito techniques and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2015 Sold to a private collection

The orange Mivvi Ice creams form the starting point to further works investigating the idea of art which is a restorative for nostalgia. This jar was the first Mivvi and was made as a stand-alone piece. It was followed by making a set of five Mivvi jars in descending sizes and different flavours.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering, trailing and fine jewelling. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Made in 2007 Sold to private collection

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2009 Sold to private collection

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2007 Sold to private collection

In 2011 Kitty Shepherd started collecting and making drawings of wild flowers.  Sometimes these drawings end up on her pots as is this case. The pink Cranesbill grew wild around her studio in Arundel at this time. Further explorations into botanical works followed, they are few, but when they arrive they are worth the wait.

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

A site specific commission to create a small pair of ginger jars. 2016

Hand coiled in Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius oxidation firing.

The smallest member of a set jars, Pineapple Mivvi 2016. Part of the ongoing collection of work on Restorative Nostalgia.

I am very drawn to the high colour of these lollies; the image of the Mivvi lolly has been kicking about in my mind for a couple of years now, working it onto a spotted background has been immensely satisfying and challenging.

The Pineapple Mivvi Jar is the smallest Mivvi Jar. Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware, painted with slips and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius oxidation firing.

Made 2010
sold to a private collection

A Rose by any Other Name – The title of this piece comes from “A rose by any other name would smell as sweet”, part of William Shakespeare’s play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her rival’s house of Montague, that is, that he is named “Montague.” It is an important design decision that the dark lacing behind the thorns on this pot are in fact Kalashnikov rifles.

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Made in 2013 Sold to a private collection

Combining nostalgia, melodrama and rockets make this piece quite a handful. It is one of my favourite pieces from this collection.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering, trailing and fine jeweling. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

Made in 2007 Sold – private collection

This is an intentionally small bottle with a tiny button top to contain the swirling paisley patterns. The psychedelic cascades of cobalt blue are symbolic of twisted tear drops.

Coil built in red Staffordshire Earthenware clay and decorated with coloured slips. Slip trailing, painting and scraffito techniques were used in the decoration. It is the first piece to be made on this theme. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 C° and fired in an oxidation firing.

Made in 2001. Sold to a private collection

A faithful copy of a  17th century Thomas Toft charger with a twist. A lion and a unicorn, supporters of the royal coat of arms of England and Scotland, are rampant to each side of a spreading oak tree.

My addition of the words ZOO ZOO is the prophecy, the year was 2001 and the film 2001: A Space Odyssey was influential in this plate.

Slump mould Staffordshire Earthenware, slip trailing. My own glaze recipe fired to 1100 Celsius oxidation firing

The Take Off Ginger Jar, made in 2011 is about camouflage. Recording Cinnabar Moths, Jersey Tiger Moths and the Scarlet Tiger Moth combined with B52 bombers.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius oxidation firing

Made in 2005 sold to a private collection

‘Art for Housewives’ was the first major ceramic piece I made in this pop-art meets rococo style of decoration.  It sold at the Philip Jackson Gallery in Midhurst, West Sussex in 2006. The Dyson featured again in my work, in total there were 5 stand alone pots made between 2005 and 2010, No.2 was a smaller version of these colours and design, it also had a small button top; the smallest of the Dyson collection. There are also a pair of jars in cobalt blue. A later piece called ‘Domestic Bliss is held a public collection on display at Plymouth City Museum and Art Gallery.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

All the source material for this jar was taken from real toy ray guns; many bought from eBay spanning four years.

• Space Jet Ray Gun. Space Jet Ray Gun Original toy: Japanese lithographed tin ‘Space Jet’ ray gun pistol from 1965 marked “KO, Japan” Yoshiya product, flint action.
• Space Control Ray Gun. Original toy: Early 1950s Japanese lithographed tin space gun, made by TN, (Norma) Japan. A very small tin gun manufactured for the export market.
• Space Cadet Gun. Original toy: Made by Lewtan in the 1950s. Die cut printed cardboard called a ‘One Shot Toy’, sold for advertising purposes; in this case, Esso. The gun is fired with a flick of the wrist, causing a sheet of folded paper inside the gun to pop as it snaps.
• Razor Ray Gun. Original toy: Friction sparking ‘Razer Ray Gun’. The space gun is a classic design made in Hong Kong in the 1960s.
• Stingray Cap Gun. Original toy: ‘Sting Ray’ Space Ranger cap-gun with fins. Press button popup sight die cast metal, made by LoneStar in England in the 1950s.
• Flash Gordon Signal Pistol. Original toy: The best ray gun there is, heavy and loud. A perfect toy gun, made by Marx 1935 in the U.S.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware, painted with slips and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C oxidation firing.

Small thrown vases 2010 to date.

Staffordshire Earthenware, slip trailed and painted with coloured slips. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius, oxidation firing

A Large Cycle Lane Vase made in 2005.

Sold in Auction by Toovey’s Auction House in Sussex to a private collection

The form of coil built red Staffordshire earthenware illustrated with beetles against orange and white spots on a black ground using slipware traditions of slip trailing, painting and sgraffito, and finished with a transparent gloss glaze  to 1120°C oxidation firing.

34 cm high, signed and dated, and impressed ‘KS’

A Large Cycle Lane Vase made in 2007. Sold to The Zimmer Stewart Gallery

The joy of the bicycle in the city.  Made in 2006. Hand coiled in Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in, scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius, oxidation firing

Made in 2008 this vase is the second in a series of Dyson pots which I started in 2006.

My obsession with drawing the Dyson Vacuum cleaner began when I first had a Dyson in 2000.I had existed for years with a 1970’s Ewbank carpet sweeper so when the Dyson arrived it was like a glamorous monster come to revolutionise dust in a truly miraculous way in my home. It became a person in its own right in the house, being too big to fit in an under-stairs cupboard it lived in full view in the dining room, like my very own synthetic human.

Domestic Bliss was acquired by Plymouth City Art Gallery and is in their permanent display.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware cutting in scraffito techniques with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120°C firing.

My Little Pony 2006 is a pot of true love. It is my motorcycle and therefore my little pony.

Hand coiled Staffordshire Earthenware with slip layering and trailing. Glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius oxidation firing.

Primavera Small Jar made in 2009 – Sold to a private collection [24 cm tall]

The wild flowers near my studio inspired this small jar, it is the first of my botanical ginger jars and dates from 2009. None of these species are particularly accurately recorded; this piece is more of a feeling of nature. It was a huge amount of work on a small scale with a lot of cutting in, slip layering and trailing. Hand coiled jar with a wheel thrown lid. made in Granada

Hand coiled in Staffordshire Earthenware and glazed with a transparent high gloss glaze to 1120 Celsius oxidation firing.