Fitch & McAndrew

There is little separation between domestic and artistic existence: pots dry beside family life, firing schedules dictate the week and historical ceramics line shelves throughout the house like a living museum of influence and inspiration.

Flux

Doug Fitch and Hannah McAndrew occupy a distinctive place within contemporary British ceramics. Working from their home and workshop in rural Dumfries and Galloway, they have devoted their lives to the rich tradition of slipdecorated earthenware, creating pots informed by historical ceramics while remaining unmistakably contemporary. Partners in life and in work, they were brought together by a shared fascination with historical pottery and a belief in the enduring vitality of handmade domestic objects.

Doug Fitch (b.1964) grew up in Northamptonshire, where an early fascination with archaeology and medieval pottery fragments found in ploughed fields first shaped his understanding of pots as carriers of history and human experience. During an art foundation course, he encountered a production potter throwing on the wheel, an experience which proved decisive. For more than twenty years he lived and worked in rural Devon, developing a practice immersed in the traditions of English country pottery and medieval slipware. Devon’s rich ceramic history,

landscape, and native red clay became central to his work. During these years he worked closely with the influential potter Clive Bowen, whose approach to wood-firing, traditional earthenware and the relationship between pottery and rural life left a profound impression on him. Fitch’s workshop in Devon stood close to seams of clay which had been worked for centuries, and his understanding of pottery developed through continual engagement with historical objects, traditional techniques, and the physical labour of making.

Hannah McAndrew (b.1977), originally from Lancashire, discovered ceramics while studying Three Dimensional Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she was taught by the ceramicist Alex McErlain, an important early influence. After graduating, determined to pursue functional pottery seriously, she sought out an apprenticeship and moved to Dumfriesshire to work with slipware potter Jason Shackleton. What was initially intended as a temporary move to Scotland became permanent. Under Shackleton she immersed herself in the traditions

Doug and Hannah embody an ethos of making-do and careful stewardship which feels deeply connected to the country pottery traditions they admire.

of wood-fired slipware, majolica, and historical earthenware, developing a profound respect for the vernacular pottery traditions of Britain. In 2003 she established her own workshop and quickly gained recognition for her richly decorated slipware ceramics, characterised by fluent slip-trailing, sgraffito decoration and a distinctive contemporary interpretation of historic forms.

Together, Fitch & McAndrew have created a shared practice grounded in the traditions of British slipware, particularly medieval pottery, and the slip-decorated wares of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Yet historical reference never becomes imitation. Doug continues to pursue the endlessly variable form of the jug, while Hannah’s surfaces evolve through increasingly complex decorative languages inspired by the natural world, from hedgerow plants and seedheads to microscopic organic structures and cellular growth.

Life and work are inseparable for Fitch & McAndrew. Their home, workshop, kilns, and family life exist as part of a continuous creative ecology shaped by practicality, resourcefulness and labour. Their pottery studio, and surrounding landscape are embedded within the rhythms of rural life. There is little separation between domestic and artistic existence: pots dry beside

family life, firing schedules dictate the week and historical ceramics line shelves throughout the house like a living museum of influence and inspiration.

Despite the warmth and apparent ease of this world, the reality is built upon immense physical work and discipline. Doug and Hannah embody an ethos of making-do and careful stewardship which feels deeply connected to the country pottery traditions they admire. Recent years have seen continued adaptations to their home and workshop, including insulation projects and the use of solar energy to offset the significant demands of kiln firing. Their approach to materials, tools and domestic infrastructure reflects the same ingenuity and economy that underpins their pottery.

For their forthcoming exhibition at The Scottish Gallery, both artists have extended the scale and ambition of their work, producing larger and more physically demanding pieces while continuing to refine the subtle vocabulary of slipware decoration that defines their practice. Plans for a new outdoor kiln point toward another stage of development, driven not by reinvention, but by an enduring need to continue learning through making.

CHRISTINA JANSEN

1 Scaevola Jug, Yellow, H24 cm

3 Tulips And Scaevola Jug, Green, H23 cm

2 Cosmos Jug, Black, H23 cm

4 Tulip Jug, Yellow, H24 cm

Hannah McAndrew

5 Slender Jar, H62 cm

A collaboration between Doug Fitch & Hannah McAndrew

Hannah’s surfaces evolve through increasingly complex decorative languages inspired by the natural world, from hedgerow plants and seedheads to microscopic organic structures and cellular growth.

6 Pediastrum III, Charger, Green, Ø49 cm

7 Abundance Of Hope Charger, Black, Ø48.5 cm

8 Scaevola Trio Plate, Black, Ø26.5 cm

9 Scaevola Trio Plate, Yellow, Ø26.5 cm

10 Tulips Plate, Large, Black, Ø33 cm

11 Tulips Plate, Large, Yellow, Ø33 cm

12 Small Cosmos Jug, Green, H15 cm

13 Little Tulip Jug, Black, H11 cm

14 Small Tulip Jug, Black, H16 cm

16 Small Tulip Jug, Green, H16 cm

15 Small Cosmos Jug, Honey, H16 cm

17 Small Cosmos Jug, Black, H16 cm

18 Flower Brick, Rectangular, Black, H9 x W11.5 x D7 cm

19 Pediastrum I, Charger, Black, Ø48.5 cm

20 Pediastrum II, Charger, Honey, Ø49 cm

21 Obelisk Vase, Large, Terracotta, H55 x W16.5 cm

22 Obelisk Vase, Small, Green, H18.5 x W11 cm

23 Obelisk Vase, Yellow, H42.5 x W16.5 cm

24 Tulip Tyg, Two Handles, Yellow, H11 cm

25 Scaevola Tyg, Black, H19 x W25 x D16 cm

26 Tulips Tyg, Green, H19 x W26 x D16 cm

27 Pressed Dish with Tulips, Black, H26.5 x W26.5 cm

28 Pressed Dish with Tulips, Yellow, H26.5 x W26.5 cm

29 Pressed Dish with Tulips, Rectangular, Yellow, H23 x W26 x D2.5 cm

30 Abundance Dish, Black, Ø38 cm

31 Zinnia Dish, Black, Ø42 cm

32 Sextant Poppy Dish, Black, Ø38 cm, 33 Hope Dish, Black, Ø42 cm

34 Large Applique Jar with Sprigs, Green, H61 cm

35 Small Baluster Jug with Florets, Green, H28 cm

36 Large Applique Baluster Jug, Green, H42 cm

37 Applique Pellet Jar, Green, H55 cm

38 Applique Tapered Jug, Green, H53 cm

39 Bulbous Applique Jar, Honey, H55 x Ø49 cm

40 Applique Jar, Yellow, H56 x Ø42 cm

41 Large Applique Baluster Jug with Fernery, H39 cm

42 Bellied Sprig Jug, Medium, Gunmetal, H23.5 cm

43 Slender Jar, H62 cm

44 Applique Brocade Jug, Honey, H32 cm

45 Applique Jar, Green, H28 cm

47 Brushwork Jar, Medium, Yellow, H21 cm

46 Plook Jar, Large, Yellow, H27 cm

48 Striped Jar, Medium, Yellow, H21.5 cm

49 Dandelion Vase, Honey, H57 cm

50 Pheasant Dish, Black, H26 x W37 cm

51 Pair of Fish Dish, Black, H26.5 x W36.5 cm

52 Clamour of Rooks Moneybox, Honey, H21.5 cm

53 Clamour of Rooks Moneybox, Green, H21 cm

Moneybox for Inflation, Terracotta, H40 cm

55 Birdie Tyg, Honey, H21 x Ø23.5 cm

57 Large Lidded Jar, Green, H70 cm

Doug Fitch b.1964

Doug Fitch is an internationally recognised slipware potter working in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. He trained in studio pottery at Derbyshire College of Higher Education, completing a Diploma in Design Crafts in 1985. He worked for many years in Devon before relocating to Scotland. His early interest in archaeology and medieval pottery fragments developed into a lifelong engagement with historic English slipware and country pottery.

Working in red earthenware clay, Fitch makes wheel-thrown vessels, principally large jugs, decorated with appliqué, sgraffito and traditional slips made from natural raw materials. His work combines historical reference with a contemporary studio practice rooted in material knowledge, form and surface.

Public Collections include:

His work is held in public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Aberystwyth University Ceramics Collection; The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge; York Museum & Art Gallery; and the Ceramic Museum of Mun-Gyeong, South Korea.

Hannah McAndrew b.1977

Hannah McAndrew is an internationally recognised slipware potter based in Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. She studied Three-Dimensional Design at Manchester Metropolitan University, where she first developed an affinity with clay, before undertaking a two-year apprenticeship with the slipware potter Jason Shackleton in Scotland.

McAndrew works in red earthenware, producing thrown pots with richly decorated surfaces using coloured slips, slip trailing, sgraffito and honey glaze. Drawing on the British slipware tradition, particularly historic Staffordshire pottery, she reinterprets these forms and techniques in a contemporary language of precision, warmth and expressive ornament.

Public Collections include:

Her work is held in public collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, London; Centre of Ceramic Art, York Museum & Art Gallery; Royal Albert Memorial Museum, Exeter; Aberystwyth University Ceramics Collection; and Mashiko Museum of Ceramic Art, Japan.

Published by The Scottish Gallery to coincide with the exhibition:

Fitch & McAndrew Flux

2 - 25 July 2026

Exhibition can be viewed online at: scottish-gallery.co.uk/flux

ISBN: 978-1-917803-28-1

Designed and Produced by The Scottish Gallery

Photography by Shannon Tofts, Fitch and McAndrew and The Scottish Gallery