A Sense of Food & Place

Chloé Rosetta Bell is a versatile designer, working across several disciplines from ceramics to watercolours. Her work is greatly inspired by the landscape and the people who live and work amidst its tides and seasons.

Chloé's work translates the landscape's features, natural colours, raw textures and materials. Before starting a new piece of work or project, Chloé spends plenty of time researching in the field - or any environment for that matter -, in order to connect and understand the landscape she is working in. On many of her recent projects, for which she has worked within the food industry to enhance the relationship between supplier and restaurant, she has intuitively used by-products collected within the supplier's landscape to appropriately reflect and connect the consumer to the food's original state and source within the natural sphere. Read Chloé's process of researching and her experience when she visits an oysterage in Cornwall, where she sought inspiration from its landscape and local oyster shells for a new ceramics project.

Field Notes from Porthilly Farm, Cornwall

Name - Porthilly Rock Oyster Species - Crassostrea Gigas Location - Porthilly Farm, Cornwall Merroir - From the clean sandy waters of the Camel Estuary in Cornwall Porthilly Rocks have a good ratio between salinity and freshwater from the river. Characteristics - Creamy, buttery, umami, fresh, clean, cucumber, zinc. Delicate nose and full creamy body and a lasting finish. Salinity - 6/10 Meat to Shell Ratio - 9/10, consistently plump and balanced between gill and body mass. Cup Depth - Deep cup, sometimes reaching up to 2 inches In Porthilly, on the Camel Estuary, Rock Shellfishwas founded by Tim and Luke Marshall to grow and purify Mussels, Oysters and Clams. The Marshalls are the fifth generation on the land and sea in Porthilly and stand as the only Oyster farm in North Cornwall. Daily, Tim and Luke Marshall traverse their land sustainably growing their produce. The growth of the shellfish takes between 16 and 24 months, turning from microscopic seeds to adult shells. I arrive through howling wind and rain to the secluded village, Porthilly. It’s where I’ve arranged to meet Tim Marshall, owner of Porthilly farm. I walk through the sand, seaweed and wind. Angular rocks frame the shore line.