Artist Series: Ana Bridgewater

Artists from around the world choose Kilns & Furnaces to provide them with equipment for their studio. In this series, we’ll be sharing the profiles of some of our artists so you can see how they use our kilns to help create their work.

Ana Bridgewater is the Director of Abalon UK. She specialises in crafting handmade translucent porcelain candles made with eco-friendly soya wax and cotton wicks. Passionate about sustainability, Ana makes all of her pieces by hand in her London studio and is committed to zero waste as a success rate of 99%!

We caught up with Ana to find out more about her art.

Tell us a little about your background Ana

After studying Philosophy and Art, I went on to complete an artists residency at Queen’s Park on the Albert Project. It was there that I first came across and used a Kilns & Furnaces kiln. Since then I’ve established my own business in 2015, creating sustainable designs and minimising waste. It was the perfect combination for my Art and Philosophy studies. My creations have been part of exhibitions in London, Miami, New York, Barcelona and Madrid as well as some other locations.

What materials do you use for your creations?

For the pots we use a translucent porcelain that is sourced locally from Stoke on Trent. After firing, each is then finished with a gold rim. Completely dishwasher safe, I encourage people to reuse the pots after the purchase with the option of buying candle refills or using it as a teacup for example. The natural translucence of the porcelain makes it a perfect pot to grow orchids in too as they are able to get light onto their roots!

For the candles, we use eco-friendly soy wax that produces a non-toxic burn. The wax is then infused with 100% natural, ethically and locally sourced essential oils. You can even use our candles for massage purposes with the wax being tested on humans.

What Kiln do you use to fire your creations?

I purchased my second Kilns & Furnaces kiln, the SHTL 233 electrical kiln, 5 years ago. I chose it because it’s very efficient and doesn’t release any harmful toxic fumes into the environment. More so, it’s locally made in Stoke on Trent and so robust and well made. It’s played a big part in helping me to innovate and be more environmentally conscious and the electrical nature means it is cost effective and powerful without losing any heat. The Kilns & Furnace team are brilliant because they visit to service the kiln, look after any technical issues and enable me to keep firing my business.