Emma Low makes pots with boobs on them. All different types of boobs.
Big boobs, small boobs, boobs with scars, boobs with tattoos, boobs with inverted nipples, boobs that aren’t symmetrical. You name it, she’s made it.
“They are a celebration of female bodies,” says Emma. “I like to celebrate individuality. If you’re putting something out there that represents women, you should be representing more than one type of woman.”
The 28-year-old from Edinburgh, who now lives in Leeds, had always worked in retail and had no creative background. She’d signed up to a couple of crafts courses but always found herself losing interest and dropping out. That was until boob pots came along.
The clay pots were the brainchild of Emma’s boyfriend. When she first met him in summer 2016, he was doing a pottery course and suggested Emma do one as well. After completing the course Emma got quite into it, making a few bits from air-dry clay for her friends at Christmas. “How funny would it be if you made me your boobs in clay,” her boyfriend joked to her one day. So she did.
“As a surprise, I made him a boob pot of my boobs - it was absolutely terrible,” Emma laughs. “He said he’d knew I would do that. We still have it now and I really enjoyed making it, creating something out of nothing was amazing.”
Emma went on to do a night course at an art school in Leeds in 2017 and learned a bit more about building, glazes and creating a masterpiece: “It was the first time I’ve ever committed to every single session - I’ve never seen anything through to the end before.”
Emma’s own boob pot went on proud display in her and her boyfriend’s flat and it was when one of their friends saw it and said they liked it, she thought of it as a business venture. “We see boobs everywhere now,” she says. “Bed covers, phone cases, you name it. But it’s usually only one particular boob type. So I thought about doing custom boob pots. It really was only ever meant to be a jokey side thing, I never imagined it would become what it has now.”
Emma launched her boob pot-making business - ‘Pot Yer Tits Away Luv’ - in February 2017, then went full-time with it in October 2017. To begin with, she made five little pots showcasing different sizes, shapes and colours and put photos of them on her Instagram. The response was overwhelming and she sold out straight away. “They’re fun rather than realistic,” she says. “I never wanted to go too realistic because I don’t have the skill to do it, but I also wanted it to be recognisable as different shapes and things that people have that are considered flawed, when actually they’re beautiful.”
Soon, people started getting in touch with Emma and asking for more pots. They wanted their own breasts made, and they wanted boob pots for friends and family members. To get the commissions right, Emma would ask people to send descriptions on the type of boobs they wanted on their pot - and some were even willing to send photos. “People are very open,” she says. “I live in a bubble of liberal women who are open to the idea of getting boobs out and it not being a big deal.”
Emma says she wanted people to come to her page and find boobs and think “Ah yes, they look like mine” and not feel embarrassed - “When you see breasts that aren’t necessarily deemed as ‘perfect’ or nice looking you may feel bad about your body, so it’s in response to trying to fix that problem,” she says. “It’s a nice way for women to connect with their body and slowly move down that way to self-love.”
Emma’s openness to celebrating diversity meant she soon started getting requests from women who have had mastectomies. One girl got in touch with her and asked for a pot for her mum, who had been through chemo and had her breast removed. “She wanted to celebrate her mum being alive,” Emma explains. “That gave me the confidence to know that these people realise their bodies are worth putting on something and they’re something to be admired.”
And her hard work has paid off, as the craftswoman has received many messages from women telling her how much they appreciate the pots. Some tell her they’ve never been keen on their boobs but now they seem them everyday, they realise they have nothing to be embarrassed about.
Most people, including Emma, use the pots at their desks for pens in, or as a decorative home accessory to put bits in such as tampons. Although plants can be put in the pots, you can’t water them while they’re in there.
What’s next for boob pots? “I’ve done quite a few penis pots, just because I’m aware of the fact not every person has breasts and therefore I don’t want them to feel excluded,” Emma adds. “I also have a plan to do a certain line that will donate money to relevant charities.”
Find out more here.