Across The Ditch


Introduction This chapter might be expected to examine the extensive web of personal and professional connections between the ceramics communities of New Zealand and Australia in the 1950s and 1960s, that period when the modern studio pottery movement was born. Unfortunately this is not really possible, as there actually were quite few. What remains is a striking similarity in the way ceramics…


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A State of Flux: The Future of Australian Ceramics Education


Appearing under the banner 'Scotland's Last Ceramics Course to Close', the March 2008 article from the Glasgow Sunday Herald discussed the imminent demise of ceramics at the Glasgow School of Art. Responding to concerns raised by current students, ex-students and staff – one of whom was the potter Alex Leckie, an influential figure who worked in South Australia as far back as the late 1950s – the…


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The Devil is in the Detail: The Ceramics of Jane Robertson


Jane Robertson lives on a hundred acres outside of the township of Nairne in the Adelaide Hills. The property occupies one side of a hill opposite Mt. Barker, sloping from the dirt road that crests the ridge to a winter creek in the gully below. It's summer now and the country is dry and the Murray Grey cattle have cropped the tawny grass down to the ground. This sweep of the ranges out to where…


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A Review


The history of figurative ceramics is marked both by its antiquity and the inherent limitations of the material. Clay has the advantage of being malleable, abundant and virtually free, but it also has distinct drawbacks when used for sculptural purposes. It must be kept moist in order to be modelled but moist clay has limited mechanical strength. This can be overcome by making the piece thicker…


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Cecily Gibson — Obituary


Cecily Gibson (20/11/1930–02/05/2007) was at the forefront of the cultural exchange between Australian and Japanese potters in the 1960s, a movement which not only contributed to the development of Australian ceramics but added greatly to the burgeoning relationship between the two countries. On the 2nd of May 2007 a significant figure in Australian ceramics passed away. Although many will not…


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An Echo of Butterflies: A response to Garth Clark


“ Almighty God touched me with His little finger and said: Write for the theatre”— Giacomo Puccini “ Down in Nagasaki, where the fellas chew tobbaccy, and the girls wicky wacky woo.”— 'Nagasaki' by Dixon & Warren © 1928 Remick Music Group, New York In his 1999 book Orientalism — the title of which is confusingly shared with Edward Said's hugely influential 1978 tome Orientalism — the…


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Bowls, anyone?


In his 1973 lecture to the Oriental Ceramic Society, 'The Development of Taste in Chinese Art in the West 1872 to 1972' [1], Basil Grey, the eminent scholar of Chinese ceramics, quoted the reactions of the British artist, critic and sometimes potter Roger Fry to the T'ang and Sung Dynasty Chinese ceramics that were being exhibited and collected in England in the early years of the twentieth…


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In the beginning was the word : Bernard Leach and Australian studio pottery from 1940-1964


**Click here to download complete thesis** Abstract The years between 1940 and 1964 constitute a significant period of growth of ceramics as part of the burgeoning Australian crafts movement. This phase is linked with Bernard Leach's influential text, A Potter's Book, where the author assesses the impact of this work on Australian ceramics. The post-war years in Australia brought increased scope…


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Bobbing for Apples in Brisbane


“The lure of the big prizes does not mean we should abandon our craft.” The apple occupies a curious place in our psyche. From an early appearance in the story of Adam and Eve to its poisonous allure in fairy tales, the promise of sweetness brings with it a darker side. Johnny Appleseed might have wandered the American backwoods, bringing civilisation and the gospel to an untamed wilderness,…


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Kirsten Coelho — Studio Potter


There have been many changes over the years in the terms used to describe those who find personal expression in the manipulation of clay. The November 2005 exhibition by Kirsten Coelho at the BMG Gallery in Adelaide provides a welcome opportunity to write about the work of someone who fits – quite precisely – a currently underused epithet, that of 'studio potter'. In these days of ceramicists (a…


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A Review


A Review of Steve Harrison's Rock Glazes, Geology and Mineral Processing for Potters: A Personal Approach (Hot and Sticky Press, 2003) “‘For potters must be close to the earth where their materials are; pots are of the earth and from the earth.’ [1]”— from 'Rock Glazes' by Ivan Englund F.S.T.C. A.S.T.C. Pottery, unlike painting, does not depict landscape; it is the landscape. Through knowledge…


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Ceramics and the Haptic Lapse


“‘... there are almost no potters left who earn their living by selling to the general public. They have become reliant on the gallery system, often paying for the privilege of exhibiting.’” The following is an open letter to Craft Victoria, in response to a forum about the closure of the ceramics course at the Victorian College of the Arts. I must say that finding out the VCA course was…


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