Carl Koch

A British-South African artist with an emphasis on exploring the interplay between colour and texture, taking inspiration from nature. Carl’s passion for making has been influenced by his Grandfather, a wildlife and portrait painter. When he was a young boy, he spent a lot of time in his studio pouring over his books, materials and art-things. This then lead onto creating things, a pencil was never far from his hands and drawing and sketching became Carl's first love. As he grew, this developed into a love of objects, using his curiosity to make things.

After graduating from university, Carl ended up designing prints for a fashion brand. It was relentless and in 2017 decided to break free from a computer and launch Paynes Grey. Living in the Chilterns, surrounded by woodlands and fantastic scenery provides Carl with inspiration for most of his pieces where you can be as wild and free as you want whilst collecting bits of flint or natural objects on his wonderings.
All Carl’s materials are sourced locally. The clay comes from a manufacturer in Stoke on Trent and has framed some of his pieces in reclaimed oak from an old barn he and his family used to live in. However, the hill he lives upon has a lovely layer of clay that he’s currently exploring to use in future projects.

Carl loves British craft, with all its creativity. There’s such a rich heritage of makers that it's definitely like standing on the shoulders of giants and been influenced by the work of Roger Herman who's so free and avant-garde.

As well as tiles lamps and pictures, Carl is currently developing a coffee table that will be his first foray into furniture which is extremely exciting.