An evening with Emma Bridgewater

Emma Bridgewater Toast Marmalade and other stories

Yesterday evening I went along to Jarrolds Norwich for an evening with Emma Bridgewater. For those of you who haven't heard of Emma and her husband Matthew I can only hope this post inspires you to go in search of their beautifully modern pottery creations.

The evening was presented beautifully by Jarrolds and on arrival we received a glass of elderflower (wine was on offer but after a dry spell of drinking I thought best not to start the night with a wine!) Jarrolds were offering 20% off Emma Bridgewater for the evening which was great for those wanting to buy.

From the moment Emma and Matthew walked into the room I felt immediately drawn to them. Not least because I've been a lover of their pottery for the last 4 years but because they have such a strong family presence about them. It was this engagement with the audience which continued into the evening that made the whole experience enjoyable.

Classic Black Toast Tea, Coffee and Sugar holders and the inspiration for my whole kitchen!

Emma spoke early on about her inspiration to get into the world of pottery. It was her Mothers birthday and she wanted to buy her two teacups and saucers. Emma had the design in mind and after scouring local shops was unable to find anything suitable. It was then that she decided to make contact with a potter who commissioned four pieces for her. Emma's frustration was that she'd designed the pottery from scratch but had been unable to hand craft the pottery herself.

It takes a strong minded person to set about removing a frustration by starting a business from scratch and this is just what Emma did. By 1985 Emma had opened the Bridgewater factory in Stoke and the rest is history as they say!

Well not quite. To this day all of the designs are created by Emma and Matthew and they spoke of the deliberations they go through when choosing a design. They're creativity comes from their family, their experiences and their hearts. This was very apparent throughout the evening, as was her love for English heritage and rebuilding life and energy into what was a run down factory in Stoke.

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to meet Emma at the end of her evening to sign a copy of her new book 'toast marmalade and other stories'.  She asked for my name and she looked up and said 'the same as my mothers, iv written you a special message in this book and you'll understand it when you read certain parts of the book'.

Iv since read the chapter titled 'to the memory of Charlotte' to which it reads 'to this day, all of my work has been to the memory of Charlotte'.

This smells sooo good!! Available online or from M&S

I came away with such an incredible insight into the Bridgewater family life and am in awe of what a strong independent lady and mother she is.

I hope you enjoyed this post. It's different to what I'll usually be posting but I couldn't let such a beautiful evening pass without blogging about it. My Emma Bridgwater collection can be found throughout this post and this weekend only there is 15% off www.emmabridgewater.co.uk. This post is not sponsered.

Love Charlotte