Hannah Kelly: From selling ceramics to making large-scale light art
- Written byEllen Partridge
- Published date 19 February 2026
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Hannah Kelly studied BA Fine Art: Sculpture at Camberwell College of Arts and graduated in 2023. She now works as a freelance artist, combining ceramics, light art and participatory workshops. We spoke to Hannah about launching her products through not just a shop, developing public art commissions and how her time at UAL helped her build confidence as a freelance practitioner.
Did you always know you wanted to work as a freelance artist?
My career ambitions definitely changed while I was studying at UAL. Through employability workshops and webinars, I started learning more about working freelance and what that could look like in practice.
That helped me realise there were a lot more options than I originally thought you’d have with a fine art degree. Through that, I also felt confident enough to apply for schemes like not just a shop and start putting my work out there.
How did your work end up being sold through not just a shop?
I applied through the not just a shop open call and submitted a selection of ceramic pieces. They selected my planter sticks but wanted to develop them further. I worked with them to create new plantable packaging so it was fully sustainable and after that they bought several units wholesale. They’re now stocked in store and in the online shop.
What support did you receive through not just a shop?
They supported me throughout the design development process. I came up with some packaging designs, and we went back and forth refining them until everyone was happy.
They also gave me some financial support towards packaging costs and helped me understand wholesale pricing. Before that, I didn’t really know how much to charge or how pricing works when selling in shops.
How did having your work stocked benefit you?
It gave me a lot more confidence. I also sell work at markets, so knowing my work was stocked in a shop helped me feel more confident about my pricing there too.
It was really exciting to be able to see my work online and in person, and to show friends and family where my work was being sold. It also made my work a lot more accessible than when I was first making products, giving me the confidence to develop my own online shop.
What employability skills did you gain from that experience?
It was the first big scheme I took part in that supported my freelance work. Before that, I’d only done a handful of markets, so this was my first experience selling online and at a wholesale level.
I learned how to prepare work for retail, write invoices, package products and manage all the background admin. Those skills have translated directly into other projects I’ve worked on.
How did your course prepare you for professional practice?
BA Fine Art: Sculpture gave me the space and facilities to really experiment and try things at a bigger scale. I worked a lot more with ceramics than I had before, including using much larger kilns, and that experience led me to buy my own kiln after graduating.
In one project, the Drawing in Social Spaces project, we worked with a local secondary school and The Drawing Room gallery in South London to run a series of workshops. We did a lot of different activities, creating a final outcome that became a really colourful book cover.
The project gave me a lot more confidence to run workshops, especially with an age range I hadn’t worked with before. It also gave me more experience to put on my CV, which has helped with my freelance work since graduating.
What have you been working on since graduating?
Since graduating in 2023, I took part in a scheme called Light Lab through Light Up the North. Through that, I learned about light art and received funding to develop a maquette.
That maquette then led to full funding from Durham County Council for a project called Travelling Tales. I worked alongside another light artist to build the piece, and it toured across Durham, visiting around seven or eight locations.
The project involved working with over 600 people through workshops across 14 days. The piece is now hopefully going to tour again, which is really exciting. Alongside that, I’ve continued selling work through not just a shop, on my own website and at markets.
How have you found the transition from student life to freelancing?
The transition from university into freelancing can be quite difficult at the beginning because you’re on your own, but it’s also nice to be able to dictate your day-to-day schedule. Having that freedom means I can keep developing my practice alongside my work, try different ideas and spend time on projects that I really enjoy.
I’m still getting used to the adjustment because being self-employed and freelance definitely has peaks and troughs. But it’s nice to have different things to do every day. I work across a lot of projects and with different people, which gives me more variation.
What advice would you give to students interested in freelancing?
Try everything and apply for everything. A lot of the smaller opportunities I’ve taken part in have led to much bigger ones.
My experiences at UAL really helped me build the confidence to put my work out there. Applying to things like not just a shop and Light Lab led to new skills, new projects and new income streams. I’d say just go for it, it can be unpredictable, but it’s a really rewarding way to build a creative career.