Kate was born in West Africa to Irish parents but was largely brought up in England. She graduated with a degree in fashion design at Central St. Martins and worked in the textile industry before she became interested in ceramics through her ex-husband, Duncan Ayscough, and started decorating his thrown vases and fruit bowls with the brightly coloured figurative designs she had been using in her textile designs.
Since 1990 Kate has been commercially producing tin glazed tiles and tableware using brightly coloured traditional glazes. She works to commission and each piece is a one-off piece of art work individually designed and personalised for every customer.
Kate Glanville ceramics have been sold in many shops and galleries around the world including Liberty, The Conran Shop, Fortnum and Masons and Macy’s New York. She has designed several ranges of hand painted tiles for Fired Earth. Kate’s work has been featured in a range of publications, including Country Living Magazine, House Beautiful, Country Homes & Interiors, Period Home, House & Garden, Perfect Home and many other interior design magazines.
Among her many customers Kate has produced ceramics for The Prince of Wales, Madonna, Roger Daltry and Robbie Williams. Her mugs have featured on the hit BBC TV show Great British Bake Off.
Kate works from her pottery studio at her home in the beautiful Welsh town of Llandeilo. With spectacular views over the Towey valley the country side around her home is a constant source of inspiration for Kate’s work. For more information about the history of Kate’s business click here.
In addition to the ceramics business, Kate is a published novelist. Her first novel, A Perfect Home, was published by Penguin USA in August 2012, her second, Heartstones, was published by Accent Press in the UK in 2014. Her third novel Stargazing was published in January 2016. Her next novels The Cherry Tree Summer and The Peacock House were published in 2021 by Hachette and Bastei Lubbe Kate is currently working on her next novel Moon Dancing which she hopes to be completing very soon. Heartstones and Stargazing have also been translated into German and Norwegian and are published in these countries by Bastei Lubbe. For more information on Kate’s books, please click here.
