The Glasgow-based artist that's inspired by 'mudlarking'
The family moved to Glasgow when Katie was 17 and having long aspired to go to Glasgow School of Art, she undertook a degree course in Sculpture and Environmental Art and graduated in 2017 with First Class Honours in Sculpture. 'When I was in third year GSA acquired a kiln – and I quickly became hooked on clay and its endless possibilities. After graduating, my dad and I built my garden studio and Manifesto was born.
'The name represents a groundwork for new ideas and action, prompting connections with like-minded people,' she adds. Her work has to date been exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy and The Ingram Collection in London.
Katie's inspiration comes primarily from the landscape around her studio or on visits to beaches where she mudlarks for anything from ancient artefacts to sea creatures, fossils, stones, shells, feathers, and general flotsam and jetsam.
(Image: Katie Rose Johnston)
'So many things – above and below ground – inspire me, and I love having a free rein to play with clay and see where it takes me and what come out of it.' The problem with being a mudlarker and gatherer of curious objects is what to do with them.
Many people keep beach finds in a glass jar, but Katie has a more artistic solution she calls Curiosity Clouds: the cloud being a unique sculptural form made up of numerous niches, each one serving as a tiny shelf upon which to display a foraged find.
The catalyst for these Curiosity Clouds, came from a visit to Glasgow's Hunterian Museum, where in amongst a display case of insect and bird nests from around the world, Katie spotted a cross-section of a termite mound, which exposed an elaborate network of tunnels and compartments termites use for ventilation and navigation.
Working from the centre outward using terracotta crank clay, each of Katie's Curiosity Clouds (priced from £200 up to £500) has its own unique appearance and size and is coated in slip to achieve a variety of earthy hues.
'Arranging found curios in each compartment is a return to childhood playdays, carefully placing each exhibit in its new space, like a curator in a museum,' she says.
Mycelium candleholders are another eye-catching fusion of form and function.
(Image: Katie Rose Johnston) Inspired by the complex system of roots that connect fungi together deep underground, each individual candleholder encases slender taper candles within an ethereal nest of coils made from terracotta clay with a white slip finish. These range in price from £400 up to £1,200.
Manifesto's range is expansive and includes a recent exploration into tableware following a six-week Anagama firing residency at Shiro Oni Studios in the Gunma prefecture in Japan, which culminated in an exhibition of functional tableware mimicking the shapes of petals and leaves, also a series of ceramic platters, dishes and bowls, pinched from balls of dark red clay.
Katie's ceramics can be purchased from Bard in Leith (www.bard-scotland.com) and periodically direct from her workshop in the southside of Glasgow.
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The Guardian
24 minutes ago
- The Guardian
How to make the perfect fritto misto – recipe
Fritto misto (the term for 'mixed fry' sounds so much better in Italian, somehow) is, in the words of Katie Caldesi, 'an assortment of deep-fried vegetables, fish or meats … all bite-size, intended to be eaten with fingers and a wedge of lemon'. And she should know, because she loves the stuff so much that she served fritto misto at her wedding to chef Giancarlo. It's pure crisp, relaxed holiday pleasure – a simple crowdpleaser that everyone can dig into together, with, as Caldesi observes, a winning element of surprise: 'You don't know what is hidden beneath the batter until you've bitten into it.' On that note, and because my memories of the dish involve rustling salty piles washed down with well-chilled carafes of vino della casa at seaside restaurants, I always think of the fishy version (properly fritto misto di mare), but I've given suggestions below for a vegetable alternative so everyone can enjoy the feast. After all, as the Tuscans say, fritta è buona anche una suola di scarpa (even the sole of a shoe tastes good fried). Alan Davidson's magisterial 1972 work Mediterranean Seafood explains that, while fritto misto is 'one of the most common fish dishes in restaurants on the Italian coast … the composition varies according to what is available, and there are scores of possible combinations. In Venice,' he adds, 'a typical mixture would be from the following range: inkfish or squid; soft-shell crabs; prawns or shrimp; eel; sardines. In Naples, the list would be shorter.' Quoting one signora Jeanne Caròla, he writes: 'Our fritto di pesce, the ultra-classical one, is not too varied: red mullet and squid only.' With such a simple recipe, you should be guided by what's freshest, or what looks best, at the fishmonger – that's the Italian way. However, my job here is to test recipes as written, so obediently I went out to find large raw prawns, which most recipes call for, along with baby squid. Cesare Casella and Stephanie Lyness's The Fundamental Techniques of Classic Italian Cuisine demands fish fillets; Tessa Kiros' Twelve specifies red mullet, so, happening upon a fine Cornish example at my local fishmonger, I use that in both. Sasha Marx's recipe for Serious Eats, meanwhile, substitutes the usual sardines and anchovies for the North American smelt, which I swap back to anchovies. Caldesi, too, goes for anchovies, though she sandwiches tinned ones in fresh sage leaves, thereby adding a pop of salty perfume that proves irresistible; in fact, one of my testers asks why I can't just make a whole plate of those instead. The River Cafe Classic Italian Cookbook simply calls for 'mixed small fish' (though its authors note that the day they went to the market, they were lucky enough to find 'langoustines, soles, mullets, eels, prawns and moscardini [baby octopus]'), which, in my case, means the anchovies and the whitebait I've already bought for Russell Norman's version. These are soaked in milk for 15 minutes before cooking – though Ruth Rogers and Rose Gray don't say why, it's said to reduce the 'fishy' flavour. Fresh fish ought not to need this treatment, so I've thrown caution to the wind and skipped this step. Whatever you go for (do play about with my suggested selection below), it's very easy to overcook seafood – to my mind, the prawns stand up best to the fierce heat of the hot oil, even more so if, like Marx, you leave the shells on. But if crunching through them isn't your idea of fun, you might prefer to remove them first. If you fancy using fish (and the more textures and flavours here, the merrier, as far as I'm concerned), I find that small whole ones work better than fillets or cubes of mullet, which are difficult to cook perfectly and have a tendency to stick or fall apart. You could also use soft-shell crabs, scallops, mussels, even oysters; anything that appeals, really. Vegetables are very much an optional extra, but I like the freshness that they bring to the dish – or as much as anything that's been deep-fried can be said to be 'fresh'. Caldesi suggests cauliflower and artichokes, Kiros artichokes, asparagus, courgettes and tomatoes, and Casella and Lynness courgettes and aubergine, plus sprigs of sage, parsley and basil. The artichokes, to my and my testers' surprise, prove the favourites; they don't seem to give off much water (courgettes and aubergines, on the other hand, are prone to turning soggy) and their shape provides lots of interesting ridges for the batter to cling to. But they're so seasonal that I've substituted the more easily sourced fennel bulb, whose aniseed flavour I think pairs better with fish. If you'd prefer to keep things vegetarian, use a mixture of vegetables that take your fancy, but avoid anything with a high water content such as mushrooms and ripe tomatoes. Where the recipes really differ is in the batter they use, which varies from chef Pasquale Torrente's mere dusting of semolina flour to the enriched, beer-spiked batter in the Caldesis' The Italian Cookery Course. Being a sucker for carbs, I admit to a fatal weakness for the more robust and shatteringly crisp batter shell – somewhere between tempura and a fish supper – produced by Caldesi, Kiros and Angela Hartnett's recipes. As with so much here, however, it's a matter of personal preference; if you like your seafood plain and simple, just dip it in seasoned semolina, or in the mixture of semolina and cornflour used by Marx, which does indeed help to keep it crisper for longer, or in the River Cafe's flour before frying. (Semolina gives a grittier consistency; Casella and Lynness mix cornmeal and flour for a similar, but even craggier result.) Flour, according to Harold McGee's seminal On Food & Cooking, is the ingredient that has the 'largest influence on batter quality … the gluten proteins in ordinary wheat flour are valuable for the clinginess they provide, but they form elastic gluten and absorb moisture and fat, and so are responsible for chewiness and oiliness in the fried crust. For these reasons, moderate-protein flours make better batters than bread flour.' Though I don't find any recipes that call for bread flour, several mention the finely milled 00 flour traditionally used in pasta making, possibly because it's one that's often found in Italian kitchens. The example I buy, however, proves higher in protein than my standard plain variety, so I've stuck with the latter, cut with cornflour, which, as McGee explains, 'improves crispness because its relatively large particles are less absorbent, and its proteins dilute wheat gluten and reduce the chewiness of the crust'. Much as I appreciate an excuse to crack open a bottle while cooking, I favour the plainer, water-based batters to those made with beer and wine, or indeed eggs and milk (with a special mention to the whisked egg whites in Norman's book Polpo, which give his dredge an ethereal, tempura-like effect). Cold sparkling water, in particular, produces a deliciously light, crisp result. If you're a real perfectionist, you might take Hartnett's advice and stir the batter over a bowl of iced water, because the colder the batter, the slower the gluten formation. I find simply using fridge-cold water and being careful not to overmix (chopsticks are, as she says, ideal for the purpose) work well enough for me. I don't think Marx's baking powder is necessary, given the sparkling water, nor Caldesi's pinch of sugar, which I suspect is, like the milk in many recipes, more there to encourage the batter to brown than to add an overt sweetness. Fritto misto tends to be rather paler than, say, an onion ring; more a ghostly tentacle than a bronzed rubber band. This is one recipe that you must, I'm afraid, get out the oil for: the clue is in the name. A high heat is best – Casella and Lynness's 165C feels too cool, and the seafood takes ages to brown, leaving some of it overcooked. Better to go in hot and fast, as Hartnett and several others recommend – though, unless you have a huge fryer, I'd also urge you to cook the different elements separately, to prevent the squid overcooking while the prawns are still floppy and wan. It's also best, if doing both vegetables and seafood, to cook the former first, or everything will end up tasting of fish. Serve hot, with plenty of salt and wedges of lemon to squeeze over the top. The ingredients list is just a guide, so feel free to swap in seafood and vegetables as desired. Prep 25 min Cook 10 min (depending on the size of your pan) Serves 4 2 fennel bulbs 300g squid, baby or large, cleaned if necessary8 large raw shell-on prawns, or 12 medium ones200g small whole fish (ie, whitebait)16 sage leaves 8 anchovy fillets in oil, drained 125g plain flour, plus extra for dusting25g cornflour Salt Neutral oil, for frying250ml very cold sparkling water Lemon wedges, to serve Trim the fennel and cut it into chunky wedges. Give the squid a wash, then remove the tentacles, and cut off and discard the head at the top of them. If the squid are large, you might need to peel off the outer membrane (look online for advice) before cutting the body into chunky rings; if using baby squid, leave the bodies whole. Wash the prawns, cut a slit down the back of each one and pull out and discard the dark 'vein' running along the prawn's back. Wash the small fish. Pat everything dry. Pair up the sage leaves with ones of fairly equal size, then sandwich an anchovy fillet between each pair (you may need to trim one end off some of the anchovies for neatness). Put the flours in a large bowl and season with salt. Put a little more plain flour on a plate. Pour enough neutral oil into a large, heavy saucepan to fill it by no more than a third and heat to 190C (alternatively, set a deep-fat fryer to heat to 190C). Turn on the oven to low and line a baking tray with kitchen paper. When the oil is almost up to temperature, quickly stir the cold sparkling water into the bowl of seasoned flours, mixing as little as possible; don't worry if there are lumps. As soon as the oil is ready, toss the fennel in the plate of flour to coat, shake off the excess, then dip it in the batter. Shake the excess back into the bowl and carefully drop the fennel into the hot oil (don't overcrowd the pan or the oil will cool down too far and its contents will go soggy, so if necessary fry everything in batches), stirring once so it doesn't stick or clump. Fry for a couple of minutes, until pale golden brown, then scoop out with a slotted spoon on to the kitchen paper, blot off any excess oil and put in the low oven to keep warm. Repeat with the prawns, followed by the squid, then the little fish, and finally the sage and anchovy sandwiches, making sure the oil comes back up to temperature each time, and bearing in mind that the prawns will probably take a little longer (three or so minutes if they're large specimens) than the squid. Go by eye: the batter should be crisp and pale gold, rather than bronzed. Once everything is fried and ready, tip on to a serving plate, season with salt and serve with lemon wedges to squeeze over the top (and with a bowl for the prawn heads and shells). Fritto misto: the capo of all fried foods, or does someone else fry seafood better? Do you prefer a light semolina dredge or a crunchy batter jacket? Or will you make the case for the vegetable, meat or even sweet versions?
The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
The Glasgow-based artist that's inspired by 'mudlarking'
'Mum and I would scour beaches looking for curios, such as fragments of pottery, shells, and particularly sea glass. My mother also had a knack for uncovering historic rubbish dumps and instilled in me this love of looking and finding – I like to call it slow meditative scouring,' says Katie. The family moved to Glasgow when Katie was 17 and having long aspired to go to Glasgow School of Art, she undertook a degree course in Sculpture and Environmental Art and graduated in 2017 with First Class Honours in Sculpture. 'When I was in third year GSA acquired a kiln – and I quickly became hooked on clay and its endless possibilities. After graduating, my dad and I built my garden studio and Manifesto was born. 'The name represents a groundwork for new ideas and action, prompting connections with like-minded people,' she adds. Her work has to date been exhibited at The Royal Scottish Academy and The Ingram Collection in London. Katie's inspiration comes primarily from the landscape around her studio or on visits to beaches where she mudlarks for anything from ancient artefacts to sea creatures, fossils, stones, shells, feathers, and general flotsam and jetsam. (Image: Katie Rose Johnston) 'So many things – above and below ground – inspire me, and I love having a free rein to play with clay and see where it takes me and what come out of it.' The problem with being a mudlarker and gatherer of curious objects is what to do with them. Many people keep beach finds in a glass jar, but Katie has a more artistic solution she calls Curiosity Clouds: the cloud being a unique sculptural form made up of numerous niches, each one serving as a tiny shelf upon which to display a foraged find. The catalyst for these Curiosity Clouds, came from a visit to Glasgow's Hunterian Museum, where in amongst a display case of insect and bird nests from around the world, Katie spotted a cross-section of a termite mound, which exposed an elaborate network of tunnels and compartments termites use for ventilation and navigation. Working from the centre outward using terracotta crank clay, each of Katie's Curiosity Clouds (priced from £200 up to £500) has its own unique appearance and size and is coated in slip to achieve a variety of earthy hues. 'Arranging found curios in each compartment is a return to childhood playdays, carefully placing each exhibit in its new space, like a curator in a museum,' she says. Mycelium candleholders are another eye-catching fusion of form and function. (Image: Katie Rose Johnston) Inspired by the complex system of roots that connect fungi together deep underground, each individual candleholder encases slender taper candles within an ethereal nest of coils made from terracotta clay with a white slip finish. These range in price from £400 up to £1,200. Manifesto's range is expansive and includes a recent exploration into tableware following a six-week Anagama firing residency at Shiro Oni Studios in the Gunma prefecture in Japan, which culminated in an exhibition of functional tableware mimicking the shapes of petals and leaves, also a series of ceramic platters, dishes and bowls, pinched from balls of dark red clay. Katie's ceramics can be purchased from Bard in Leith ( and periodically direct from her workshop in the southside of Glasgow.
Glasgow Times
6 days ago
- Glasgow Times
Glasgow School of Art honours two former graduates
Jasleen Kaur and Hiroaki Kimura were celebrated for their "outstanding contributions" to the fields of fine art, design, and architecture. Jasleen, a 2008 GSA graduate known for her interdisciplinary work centred on cultural memory, diasporic identity, and colonial histories, was awarded the honorary Doctor of Letters. Read more: Glasgow student who lost brother and cared for mum wins award for resilience Hailing from Pollokshields, Jasleen's work is informed by her Sikh upbringing and spans various media including sculpture, installation, and video. The artist and winner of the 2024 Turner Prize expressed her gratitude for the award. She said: "It was unexpected, but a total honour to be awarded the Honorary Doctorate this year, especially as Glasgow and The Glasgow School of Art are such significant places to me. "They are both places that have shaped me, and I think often of how fortunate I am to have had access to free education, which was totally life-changing." Japanese architect and researcher Hiroaki Kimura was also awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters. Hiroaki, who began his studies of Charles Rennie Mackintosh while studying in Glasgow, has dedicated over four decades to documenting and promoting Mackintosh's work globally. Professor Sally Stewart, head of the Mackintosh School of Architecture, said: "While practising and teaching over the last 40 years, first in Kobe and subsequently at the Kyoto Institute of Technology, Hiroaki has never ceased to be interested in the studies he began as a student here at The Glasgow School of Art, or the opportunities that those studies opened to him." The GSA also celebrated the talents of its students, with Anna Lewis, a graduate of sculpture and environmental art, awarded the 2025 Newbery Medal for her work. Martin Newth, head of the School of Fine Art, said: "Anna creates extraordinary objects that are beautifully and precisely crafted. "She brings the same careful attention to detail to arranging the varied pieces in her evocative and deeply enigmatic installations. "Anna is a wonderful artist whose work is hard to categorise and offers exactly the kind of challenge that makes it so compelling." Other finalists for the Newbery Medal, who each received a Chair's Medal, were Iestyn Howorth from the product design programme, Emelie Christina Fraser from architecture, and Duoduo Lin from the silversmithing and jewellery department. Read more: Brothers graduate together from the same course at UWS Paisley with first-class degrees Professor Penny Macbeth, director and principal of GSA, said: "Today marks a key moment for our graduates as they move forward into the next stage of their creative careers, equipped with skills they have learned during their time here at The Glasgow School of Art and applying them in new roles across the creative sector. 'This year's honorary doctorates are exemplars of the impact and legacy that our global creative network of graduates can make, demonstrating the value of creative education and the importance that creative people can make in setting the pace, in asking challenging questions, and in offering positive solutions. "We are proud to award the honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in recognition of the outstanding success they have each achieved in their respective fields, expanding their research and creative practices to international significance and acclaim. "Jasleen Kaur is the seventh GSA graduate to win the prestigious Turner Prize. "Her interdisciplinary practice explores how we define ourselves and preserve and challenge our traditions. "Architect and teacher Hiroaki Kimura has made a significant global contribution to research and knowledge related to Mackintosh, through a long and remarkable relationship with the institution that has spanned over 40 years."
