Hunter Valley Ceramics

My pursuit of visual and fine art practices is realised through a variety of mediums in drawing, printmaking, analogue photography, jewellery making and ceramics. My desire to create drove me to develop these skills primarily for myself, and secondly to broaden the skill base in my career as a teacher in Design and Technology.

I started ceramics in 2018 and immediately loved the clay medium as it combines my background in design and technology with art. In 2017 my family moved to an acreage in Branxton, this allowed me the space to set up a fully equipped pottery studio and pursue ceramics as my primary career. I incorporate wheel throwing and hand building techniques into my practice.

I intend to produce handmade ceramics that are not only beautiful but durable and can endure years of use, cutting down on disposable or throw away mass produced products.

Care of the environment is important so I try to incorporate sustainable practices into my studio and work to reduce my environmental footprint. This includes recycling all clay scraps and using mid-fire clay, which is fired to mid-range temperatures and therefore reduces electricity consumption. Most of my work is using a single fire technique, which combines the bisque and glaze firing together so pieces do not require a second firing. This makes the glazing stage of production more difficult as the raw clay is very delicate to handle, however I feel that the environmental advantages are worth the effort. Mid-fire temperatures and single firing also inflicts less wear on the kiln resulting in less need for maintenance and replacement of equipment.