Our Way: Made in Cellardyke
by Kirsty Thomas
09.09.14
We live in Cellardyke, a tiny fishing village on the East coast of Scotland. Our first studio was an old fisherman’s net loft, where previously nets were mended and dried, fish was salted and lines were baited. We haven’t always lived here, we moved up eight years ago to get away from the city and try to live a quieter life.
We now run Tom Pigeon here, designing, making and hand finishing our products in our studio and everyday we’re inspired by the colours, shapes, lines and sounds that the village offers up.
Cellardyke harbour is five minutes from our house and one of our favourite places. We swim there (sometimes), light fires on the beach, toast Christmas day there, or just sit on the benches soaking up the sun. The harbour wall is incredible - massive blocks of stone carefully knitted together over a hundred years ago and still able to hold back huge waves and winter storms. It reminds me of the work of Victor Pasmore and Eduardo Chillida, and will be the starting point for a new series of screenprints sometime very soon.
We also love the colours of ice cream in the local chippy (rhubarb, mint choc chip and burnt cream!), the lines and angles of masts and sails, the type on the ice cream vans and the travelling fair that arrives in the village every summer, the old sea-battered paintwork and traditional sign-writing on the local fishing boats.
When you see Made in Cellardyke on our website or our packaging it tells you a bit about our philosophy – we love traditional processes and making things with our hands, we’re inspired by our surroundings, we don’t get too hung up on trends and what’s happening in the big city and we might need to nip out for ice cream if the sun is shining.