Small-Batch Studio · Suffolk, England

Pottery with
a few good spots.

Dots & Pots makes handmade and wheel-thrown functional ceramics for home and garden from a garden studio in Suffolk, UK. Named after the family dalmatian Macintosh (Mac for short), it started as black-and-white pieces inspired by his coat and moved on to colours to match his colourful personality. Mac continues to inspire Dots & Pots creations.

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Macintosh — The Inspiration

Our Story

How a wheel, a dog, and a lot of dots got here

Dots & Pots started with a wheel taster session — no real plan beyond a fun afternoon and a few wonky bowls. It began in Somerset, before a move to Suffolk, where we built a little studio in the garden, with the kiln set up in the garage.

"Time can seem to stand still when at the potter's wheel. I can say I will go in for a few minutes and be in there for hours!"

Every piece still starts the same way it did back then: a lump of stoneware, a bit of water, and a lot of patience. Mac was the inspiration behind the dots initially, and the pottery developed through learning skills on the pottery wheel and thinking of new forms — often to solve a problem, like how to support the bees in the garden. The colours started as dots and now splash across all the pieces, as more and more glazes become firm favourites.

We keep our runs small on purpose. Small batches mean every mug gets thrown by hand, every glaze gets tested properly, and we can actually stand behind each piece that leaves the studio — spots, wobbles, and all.

Handmade ceramic nesting bowl set glazed with a dalmatian-inspired spotted pattern

Where the dots really come from

Spotted Bowl Set · A nod to Macintosh's coat

From Clay to Kiln

Every piece follows the same five steps

Wedging clay by hand, and centring clay on the wheel

Wedge & Centre

Clay is kneaded by hand to remove air, weighed out, then centred on the wheel.

Shaping a bowl by hand on the pottery wheel

Throw

Shaped one pull at a time, so no two pieces come out quite the same.

Trimming the base on the wheel, and attaching a handle to a mug

Trim & Handle

Once leather-hard, we trim the base and add handles or fine details.

Bisque Fire

A first firing hardens the clay so it's ready to take glaze.

Pots of glaze ready for dipping, and a hand-painted bowl being placed in the kiln

Glaze & Fire

Glazed by hand, then fired again at high heat to finish.

A full throw, start to finish

The Collection

A few studio favourites

Ring Dish

A little catch-all for rings and studs, with a reactive glaze that breaks green at the edges.

Handmade ceramic oil cruet bottle with a pour spout, glazed in teal fading to sand

Oil Bottle

Finished in Green Tea and Birch glazes, fitted with a pour spout — as at home on the stove as on the table.

Large handmade ceramic serving bowl in a speckled blue glaze over a tan stoneware base

Bowls and Plates

These breakfast bowls are made from Chocolate Speckle clay and were a commission.

Handmade ceramic pet bowl with a blue underglaze dog-print design, personalised for a dog

Pet Bowls

Wheel-thrown bowls for the four-legged members of the family — can be personalised with your pet's name.

Handmade ceramic bird feeder in a speckled blue glaze, hanging outdoors and filled with bird seed

Bird Feeder / Bird Bath

A wheel-thrown piece for the garden — equally happy as a bird feeder or a bird bath.

Nesting trio of handmade ceramic bowls with a blue and brown Sunburst glaze

Cenote Glazed Bowls on Raw Black Clay

The crystals burst in the kiln firing to create this magical effect.

Four handmade ceramic mugs in raspberry, teal, cream, and sage glazes on a wooden shelf

Mugs and Cups

Everyday mugs and cups, each one thrown, trimmed, and glazed by hand.

Breakfast Bowls

Everyday breakfast bowls thrown in chocolate speckle clay, with the speckles breaking through a soft turquoise glaze.

Most pieces are one of a kind — sizes and glazes vary slightly, because hands aren't machines. Ask About Availability

A closer look at a few glazes

Handmade ceramic oil bottle finished in a speckled turquoise and rust Cenote glaze, shown in full with its pour spout

Oil Bottle in Cenote Glaze

The same oil bottle form, finished here in our Cenote glaze.

Handmade ceramic plant pot and saucer in Green Tea and Birch glazes on a windowsill

Plant Pot in Green Tea & Birch

A wheel-thrown plant pot glazed in our Green Tea and Birch glazes.

Three small handmade ceramic snack bowls in Green Tea, Raspberry Mist, and Norse Blue glazes

Small Snack Bowls

Glazed in Green Tea, Raspberry Mist, and Norse Blue.

Cat Bowl

Finished with red transfers under a clear glaze.

Spoon Rests

Hand-painted spoon rests — hummingbird, sunflowers, pears, and a daisy.

Meet The Maker

Jean

I am the face behind Dots & Pots. I love working with clay! I have always appreciated colour and form, and particularly enjoyed trips to modern art museums. I initially had a taster day with a potter and a few evening classes. Investing in my own wheel and kiln enabled me to continue practising the skills and creating different forms using a variety of clays.

I love making functional pieces on the wheel, that others can enjoy using, in stoneware clay. My favourite clays are white stoneware, which is soft and creamy to throw with and has a crisp, clean look; chocolate speckle, which has an amazing texture — the speckles look incredible under a clear glaze; and Scandi grey, which is trickier to throw with, but the darker clay complements glazes really well.

I live in Suffolk, and since retiring from primary teaching I have time for pottery, as well as being out in our camper van with the dogs, and kayaking on the River Stour.