MIMMO Meets: Studio Alice Johnson

For Alice Johnson, ceramics began almost by accident. What started with air-drying clay while studying illustration at the University of Brighton eventually led to pottery pets, a place at the Royal College of Art and a growing practice filled with playful, distinctive objects inspired by nature, colour and everyday life.

To celebrate our ongoing collaboration with Studio Alice Johnson, we sat down with Alice to talk about her creative journey, her connection to Cheltenham and South London, and the little things that shape her world. From considered interiors and second-hand finds to flowers, handmade objects and her favourite tulips, Alice's creativity extends far beyond the studio.

MIMMO Studios — What's your current view?

Alice - I’m at home in London, in my living room, here with my little bargain tulips next to me. I try to have flowers in the house in spring and summer; tulips are my favourite. It’s really sunny here today, complete blue skies.

MIMMO Studios - Do you like living in London?

Alice - I love it. I love South London. Yeah, it's quite nice with the studio being east. It's quite nice having a foot sort of either side of the river. People always ask, why don't you have a studio in Peckham? But then I don't think I'd ever leave.

MIMMO Studios — What's your connection to Cheltenham?

Alice - I was born in Cheltenham and then lived in Cheltenham until I was about 11, and then moved to Nailsworth, which is in Stroud. I then went to the University of Brighton because I thought the illustration course was really good and because I never felt like I was quite ready for London.

After that, I moved back home for a bit and was working three retail jobs, and then I started doing the ceramic stuff on the side, which actually, looking back, was quite a nice time. When you're in it, you're like, oh God, what's going to happen? And it's hard not to compare yourself to everyone else who's graduated. But I had to remind myself, I'm still figuring it out.

MIMMO Studios - What brought you to London? What was it that made you feel ready?

Alice - I applied to the Royal College of Arts to do ceramics. I got in, which I suppose is what brought me to London.

MIMMO Studios - So how did you get into ceramics? Did you do a course?

Alice - So, at Brighton, I started doing air-drying clay, and that's when I thought, "Oh, I quite like this," and because I wasn't very good at the sort of computer stuff, I thought, I'm going to start doing this a bit more. And then I did a few courses when I was at Brighton, and then in the holidays too. And that's when I started doing the pottery pets.

It's always been a bit of a happy accident, really. I made my dogs on a course in Cirencester back in 2015, and then I started making friends' pets at university, too.

MIMMO Studios - Is that when it really took off? 

Alice - I set up an Instagram page and then I'd make them at home, so that was sort of the beginning of them.

MIMMO Studios  - Outside of pottery pets, where do you find inspiration for your other ceramics, such as the tiles and plates we've collaborated on?

Alice - When working with MIMMO Studios, we come up with a sort of theme or colour palette, which I really like and is always a good place to start. It's mainly nature, really, where I look to, and going to exhibitions.

MIMMO Studios - Looking back on your career so far, is there a milestone that feels particularly special to you?

Alice - I'm probably quite guilty of always looking forward. It's quite hard sometimes, but I think when my pets were featured in The New York Times, that was huge for me. What followed was a really good year. But I have learnt that being self-employed you have good years and bad years, but in the slower years, although they feel a lot less stable, it gives you ways to come up with new ideas of what to make.

MIMMO Studios - Your home has such a distinct and considered style. Where do you find the pieces that fill your space, and what inspires your interiors?

Alice -  It's always been very important to me, how you feel within where you live, like what you have around you. Even when I was a student living in really grotty student houses, I still really tried to make them as nice as I could. I do love a bargain and finding things, as I see them on Facebook Marketplace, eBay and at auctions.

MIMMO Studios - Are there any ceramics or objects in your home you would never part with?

It's a bone china mug of my mum's that has a lovely wiggle pattern on it and the best for a cup of tea.

Where are you heading this summer? Any places you're looking forward to visiting?

Alice - So it's funny that you said this because I actually don't. I think because I'm such a home bird, I don't actually love travelling that much however, I went to Lanzarote recently and loved it, and I'm also off to Sicily this year in Italy.

QUICKFIRE QUESTIONS 

MIMMO Studios - Comfort food of choice?

Alice - Bread and butter, a baguette with hot salty butter

MIMMO Studios - What's your top product pick from MIMMO Studios?

Alice - I love the hand knitted neckties you have 

MIMMO Studios - Favourite flower?

Alice - That's an easy one. Tulip

MIMMO Studios - Favourite scent?

Alice - I love the smell of bookshops and new books, I'm not a massive reader but I like buying books with the genuine hope I will read them, I think there's a Japanese phrase Tsundoku, is the phenomenon of acquiring reading materials but letting them pile up in a home without reading them.

MIMMO Studios - Go to lunch spot in London?

Oh, thats a tough one. There's a Vietnamese spot just round the corner from my studio called Sông Quê Café, They do the best spring roll I've ever had. There's a place called Towpath that are only open certain times of the year, or the Garden Museum Cafe.

Words by Lil Gardiner

Photography by Jack Stocker