I have been been making pots for over 10 years now. I began learning to make pots at evening classes at the Guildford Potters’ in 2006. After a hiatus, I attended classes with Stewart Scambler at the Fremantle Arts Centre and this is where the journey into the deep rabbit hole of pottery really began. In 2020 I began working at a pottery in Dunsborough, which allowed me to hone my skills through making production pottery.
For me, making pots grows out of a love of food and country and the desire to contribute to a rich food culture in Western Australia —- growing; cooking; fermenting; eating and sharing. I make pots for daily use with the hope that people might be surrounded by useful and beautiful things.
Ash glazes have always been a part of my practice. They bring more organic surfaces to the pots bring the pots into closer relationship to the cooking fire and the plants that fuel it.
In 2020, I moved to Erravilla Country Estate in Yallingup Siding and began to establish a pottery in an old shearing shed on the property. In 2021 I completed building a wood-fired kiln. Firing with wood brings the pots into relationship with the land on which they are made. The flame and the ash of the wood-firing process touch the pots in ways that are largely unpredictable and give the pots a uniqueness that is out of the hands of the maker. The pots are a collaboration with fire.
With a kiln built, ash collected from local cooking fires, mineral sands collected from Yallingup and clay dug from Erravilla property, I am excited to be able to make work that is beginning to be expressive of this place. Every kiln opening is an exciting and ongoing conversation with country, fire, people and earth.
