My earliest memories with clay are from primary school.

Art classes were portals to exciting realms, a reprieve from a world of left hemisphere propensities. I recall the enjoyment of helping in the studio, in learning the coil method, and the quiet surprise of seeing my clay ballerina awarded 3rd prize in the school art show.

Growing up alongside the beaches of the Mornington Peninsula, Vic, Australia, I grew an irrevocable affinity with nature.

Recollections are embedded with patterns of sky, land and seascapes responding to seasonal elements, such as the way wind or water currents disturb sand to create rippled undulations in dunes, upon the ocean surface and its seabed. These impressions continually whisper to my work in clay.

Travelling Asia in my late teens was an experience of sense saturation.

Cultures laden in history where daily living is a perpetual movement of rituals resplendent in colour, art, music, food, where even the mundane is displayed in patterns to entice the eye and the mind. Intricate wood carvings, bronze and stone sculptures, the houses and wooden effigies of Tana Toraja, South Sulawesi; rice terraces of Banaue, Philippines; beautiful textiles, traditional and modern 2D art, dance, performance, temples, ornamental gardens, food and functional ceramics.

During these years I explored 2D in oil, acrylics and water colour.

Soon after, I discovered Sumi-e (Japanese monochrome ink painting). The classes with French artist Andre Sollier were inspirational, calming and restorative. This Zen technique, dating back centuries, aligned with my interest in Eastern philosophies and meditation.

Inspiration was continually ignited over the last 25 years from my familial relationship with the sculptor the late Peter Blizzard, his wife Liz and their family.

Liz Blizzard has been, and still is, most supportive and Paul Blizzard’s workshop classes in bronze sculpture resurrected my interest to return to clay, so when the opportunity to train with ceramic artist and teacher Pete Pilven presented, it felt like a home coming. I enrolled into the Graduate Diploma of Ceramics at Federation University. Here I stepped into the shallows of an ocean in learning about this ancient, unpretentious medium, utilised by humankind for eons and which can been dated back to 29,000-25,000 BC (Venus of Dolni Vestnice).

When my hands are in clay, I’m transported to a place that feels both familiar and provocative. 

I compare the feeling to walking barefoot upon the early morning grass; receptors in the soles of my feet awakened by the cold, damp ground, heightening my awareness to the energies of the earth and its elements. Enlivened, I’m ready to challenge preconceived concepts, be alert to subconscious, restrictive inclinations and to allow myself a natural response to the clay, its qualities and movement.

I ascribe to the Buddhist view that, perfect and imperfect are merely concepts which negate naturalness.

In contemplating this, there is freedom to creatively respond to a life full of impressions, habits and patterns, both conscious and unconscious; including those imposed upon nature by human species.

Each work is individually crafted with patience and care. I seek to produce pieces that are functional, yet attract one to touch and to hold, evoking our inherent need of connection, be that with others or with nature.

Please enjoy.

Testimonial

”Organic, sand, dunes, playful. Ancient landscapes. Strong, bold and elegant forms. Sophisticated design.” - Angela Robinson (1969-2021) artist, teacher, friend.