How would you describe what you do?
Raw, organic, textured and imperfect hand-built ceramics inspired by nature. My catch phrase is they are all a bit wonky, just like their maker! My hope is that when someone sees or holds my work they are aware that it is made from the earth, inspired by the earth and connected to the earth. In my work I explore a sense of place and belonging. How as humans we are so deeply hardwired to respond to our surroundings.
Take us inside your studio.
I live with my husband and three young children in
a rambling old weatherboard cottage on our family farm. It is surrounded by a stunning garden that my late mother created. The farm is at Pipers River in the northeast of Tasmania, or Lutruwita as it’s known by the Palawa people and traditional custodians of this land. My favourite place to work is in a patch of beautiful old forest on the edge of our farm, where I will light a fire and sit on the earth and create.
Did you study fine arts or are you self-taught?
A bit of both! After school I studied a Bachelor of Education, but spent every spare minute I had in the art department. This included doing a number of printmaking and ceramics subjects. After university I took a year to travel and work overseas, seeing some of the most wonderful museums, art galleries and art work. Returning to Tasmania I completed a Bachelor of Contemporary Visual Arts, majoring in painting. It wasn’t until I had three young children in the house that I put the brushes away and felt very intuitively that I needed to try clay again. So, I bought myself a bag of BRT clay and the rest as they say, is history.
What does a typical day in the studio look like?
Chaos! As I have young children and manage the day-to-day tasks on our farm, my creative practice becomes woven into the fabric of everyday life. I tend to come and go from pieces between school bus runs, checking ewes and lambs or working in the veggie patch. The kids will often accompany me on my hunts to dig clay from the rivers and waterholes on the farm and love mucking around in the gooey sludge as I slake it down to prepare it for use. My most creative time
is usually when I rise early in the mornings before the kids are awake, sneak into my studio with a pot of tea, light a candle and enjoy the solitude of the morning, until someone discovers where I am.
What materials do you use?
I use a combination of commercial stoneware clay that I blend with clay that have I sourced and processed from various sites around our farm. It’s a laborious but deeply satisfying process to dig clay from the ground. It creates a deeper connection to the place where I live and work and I love that in each piece there is a part of my home that travels out into the world.
What have you been working on recently?
I have had the privilege of being commissioned to create a bespoke ten-piece dinner setting for a newly renovated heritage cottage on a vineyard on the east coast of Tasmania.