ORLAWITHAFADA / Órla Slattery

20/03/2026

In college I had to read St Patrick's Confessio and Epistola and Tírechán's 'Collectanea'. It's been a few years so I'm sure I'm forgetting parts, but one time St Patrick was having some sort of conflict with an Irish person (as per usual) and Pat lit him (the other fella) on fire to prove that his god was a fake ass ho who wouldn't save him. The guy burned to death (obviously). That's a win for Christianity for sure.

23/02/2026

Nervously trying out firing my pottery in a microwave

22/02/2026

21/02/2026

The pot from my last post except glazed and finished (except for a little bit of sanding). I decided to only glaze the inside because I really wanted the raw clay to speak for itself, and I'm glad I did- I think it looks pretty cool.

I've been buying these little fruit leather strips in Lidl recently that are kind of a similar colour to this wonderful pot. Except yesterday I decided to try the strawberry flavour for the first time (usually I get mango/tropical). Do any of you remember the cheese saga from like two years ago? Where I tried some fancy old cheese and then immediately passed away because old cheese has this chemical in it that can trigger migraines for people. Well, turns out old/dried fruit sometimes has the same chemical. So I thought I was great trying this new flavour but about two hours later I start to feel an aura coming on. RIP to me. So I now have a box of fruit leather that I can't eat just sitting in my press. Perhaps I'll place it inside this pot for the lucky purchaser to open and enjoy. Just don't eat it if you get migraines.

xoxo Ó

27/01/2026

Making a big pot in two parts which is different to how I usually do it and it falls over immediately

11/01/2026

Hello friend, right here I've got a fine pot made from various stoneware clays sitting on the edge of the kiln as it waits for its journey through 1000° heat. At the other side of its journey, the pot will (hopefully) be in one piece, and should look basically the same as it does now (maybe slightly dusty looking). I'm not decided on how I'l glaze it yet. Happy New Year and say hi to Karen and the kids for me .xx

19/11/2025

I like to use wild clay in my pots, all of which I dig/harvest myself. I really don't want to be doing anything major to the clay before I use it, cos I want all of its original qualities to be preserved. SO, when I dig up a new batch of clay, all I do is sieve it to get any big rocks out of it. Some smaller rocks get through, which I don't mind, because in the kiln they expand and change and become these beautiful molten additions. I just don't want *too many* small rocks in the one place in this particular pot, so I take them out like this. Except, every time I do this I've got the ghost of The Hoof GP on my shoulder.

After this I'll let the clay dry out a little more and then trim and burnish the pot, so it'll end up nice and smooth.

xoxo -Ó

03/09/2025

HELLO! My marketing manager (Louis) has told me that I’m not posting enough about our shop update. So here I am, posting about the shop update. Right here (and on my website ORLAWITHAFADA.com) you’ll see a ‘Wild Tile’, as I’ve been calling them, with a Red Kite flying over the surface of the tile. The Red Kite is made from clay that I picked up while I was on a nice hillwalk- more on that in a moment.

I have to tell you something. I really like birds. Looking at birds is pretty much my main hobby. Sometimes I take my camera and my binoculars and I go somewhere and I look at the birds for a few hours. On the East Coast of County Wicklow, there’s a really special kind of bird called a ‘Red Kite’. If you’re ever in the area, particularly on a nice sunny day, you’ll surely see one. Red Kites are very elegant Birds of Prey, clearly distinguishable (both in clay and in real life) by their red-brown feathers and their iconic long forked tails. They actually went extinct in Ireland about 200 years ago, but thanks to the efforts of the National Parks and Wildlife Service and a group of Irish and Welsh charities, they were reintroduced successfully in 2007.

Red Kites like to spend their winters together in a big flock. I’m gonna take a guess and say that they do this to stay nice and safe and warm, but I don’t know the official reason. The biggest flock of these beautiful birds is in Avoca, Co. Wicklow, and you can see them in their big flock if you go up the walking trail called the ‘Red Kite Walk’ (what a coincidence). Due to my aforementioned interest (obsession) in birds, I went and did the Red Kite Walk, and while I was up there I picked up a small chunk of clay that I used to make these tiles.

So now you know! Red Kites are very cool and very important, so next time you’re on a hot date and you see a very distinctive looking bird soaring through the sky, you’ll be able to tell your hot date all about the Red Kite’s history. And then you’ll direct your hot date straight to ORLAWITHAFADA.com. That last step is crucial for you to get another date, so make sure you don’t forget it.

xoxo -Ó

18/08/2025

Two vases made with clay that I hand-dug in Cappamore, Co. Limerick.

These will go on sale on my website TODAY at 7pm!

Look at the difference in colour of the two- isn't that so cool? I dug the clay for these two vases in two different spots no more than 500 meters from eachother, but you can clearly see a colour difference.

www.ORLAWITHAFADA.com 7pm Tonight
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18/07/2025

My review/recap of the International Ceramics Festival 2025 (ICF25)