Handmade Teapot by Maria Poyato

Maria is a studio potter with a background in Illustration.

From her studio based in Edinburgh, she teaches creative workshops and makes functional and sculptural ware, using a potter’s wheel and hand-building techniques.

Maria’s pieces are influenced by how our connection to nature and everyday objects keep us sane and grounded, inviting us to live a slow, simple and yet joyful life.

She likes experimenting with surface decoration in her practice, using carving and brushwork techniques that bring playful stories to her pots. This results in her work bearing a significant presence of animal and botanical motifs, astrology and organic textures with a rustic and homely feel to them.

Maria is an active member at the ‘Angus Agus Agnes’ community kiln, where she woodfires with her fellow potter friends and enjoys drinking tea and playing with fire in the countryside very much.

She is also a trustee at the Scottish Potter’s Association, working as a Student Officer, helping to promote all aspects of hand made pottery and ceramics in Scotland.

Maria was born in the North of Spain and grew up in a little coastal town near Santander. She was always very inspired by the green and rainy landscapes of Cantabria.

After graduating from her Bachelors’ degree in Audiovisual Communication, she moved to Scotland where she absolutely fell in love with Edinburgh and Scottish culture. She joined Edinburgh College to study an HND in Illustration, allowing her to experiment and practice with different media and materials.

One day, on her way to climb Arthur’s seat, she found Mud Station’s old pottery studio and after a beginners course and attending open studio classes, she decided pottery would be her craft. She spent 2 years training as an apprentice with Sylwia Kolasinska and Stephen Wood and then worked as Studio Assistant for Aku Ceramics for another year.

Maria currently has her own studio in Summerhall and she sells her pottery in independent shops and galleries over the UK.