COMFORT AND CALM - Gold Coast QLD
Located on the Gold Coast, Jac’s ceramic work is inspired by natural surrounds with a strong emphasis upon woodlands and forest inspirations. Created ‘for the sake of keeping’, her pieces are textured using a variety of organic matter, such as pine cones, tree bark, seed pods and gum nuts amongst others that are foraged from natural environments.
Jac works with stoneware clay that she manipulates using a variety of traditional techniques: pinching, coiling and slab rolling. This process of hand building allows her to focus on subtle detail and give time to each piece. Works are careful hand-painted with earthy glazes to give a natural, rustic aesthetic. Each piece of collection is named after places that hold special memories for Jac.
. . . “My work is intended to instill a sense of calm and to evoke a feeling of being in a place close to nature’s heart’.
ELISA BARTELS DESIGNS - Sydney NSW
Elisa Bartels is based in Sydney and her work is centred around pushing the boundaries of public perception on the capabilities of ceramics. Clay is a nuanced material that transcends the domestic environment and confidently straddles the perceived divide between art and design.
. . . “I strive to inject my practice with subtlety and a whimsical strength which leads me to incorporate materials ranging from metal to plants. What excites me is subverting the perception that ceramics has in the broader community and opening up a dialogue by producing works which are approachable, exciting, fun and sexy”.
ELIZABETH BELL CERAMICS - Melbourne VIC
Elizabeth Bell is a ceramic artist and pottery teacher from Melbourne (Australia). She first took to the wheel in 2015, under the tutelage of Dr Darren McGinn at Studio Made. Since then Elizabeth has completed workshops in Kyoto (Japan), Jaipur (India) and Cappadocia (Turkey), as well as an internship at Illyria Pottery in Oxford (UK). For the past two years she has been based in London, teaching introductory pottery classes in the studio of Jo Davies Ceramics.
Elizabeth specialises in wheel-thrown stoneware, producing functional items with both purpose and individuality. She describes her technique as a product of global influences, and draws inspiration from patterns, colours and textures found in the natural world.
FEUERSPIEL CERAMICS - Surry Hills NSW
Jessica is a small-batch ceramic artist based in Surry Hills, NSW Australia. She makes functional ceramics under the name Feuerspiel ('foy-er-sh-peel'), a German word roughly translated to 'Fire Game', or 'Fire Play' as her art is formed with fire and heat.
Jessica is a proud alumnus of Sydney University's Sydney College of the Arts where she learned the tools of her trade. Feuerspiel makes 100% percent handmade, durable ceramics, influenced by traditional Japanese pottery as well as Scandinavian minimalist design. All works are made lovingly by hand, right down to the glazes which are specially formulated and mixed from scratch.
HAYDEN YOULLEY DESIGN - Marrickville NSW
Hayden Youlley studied a Bachelor of Design at COFA which gave him the opportunity to experiment with various design disciplines and introduced him to ceramics. Things really clicked for Hayden as a designer when he found ceramics in second year because he felt like he’d found a medium that gave him the freedom to create in the moment and the ability to explore whole ideas from start to finish. The endless possibilities malleable clay offered to explore his ideas about of surface, scale and volume really sparked his interest.
Once he started working with clay, he realised that it appealed not only to his fascination with materials and process but also to his sense of independence as a designer. It’s the only medium he has worked with that he can use to make a product by doing each step in the process himself - from designing and prototyping to realising and manufacturing. For Hayden, the process of designing, prototyping and producing ceramics, both sculptural and functional, involves the right mix of instant satisfaction, challenge, surprise, problem solving and beauty to keep me interested in exploring all its possibilities. That’s the fanciest way he has found to say that it is a really fun and rewarding way to get your hands dirty and throw mud around all day.
JENN JOHNSTON CERAMICS - Mullumbimby NSW
After growing up in the bushy outskirts of Melbourne, followed by a stint in the inner city and a career in health research and policy, my husband and I made a sea/tree change to Northern NSW in 2009. Making this move gave me the space to start exploring my creative passions, and my long held desire to work with clay.
I had the opportunity to take an introductory course in ceramics at a local studio, and immediately felt at home at the wheel: I discovered a passion and drive for creating ceramics, and my eye were opened to a new way of experiencing design and art.
In my studio nestled in my garden in Mullumbimby, I create elegant, functional, hand crafted ceramics. My wheel-thrown and hand-built high-fired stoneware and porcelain pieces reflect my love of gardening, travel, entertaining and contemporary design. My approach to my work is also strongly influenced by my appreciation of Japanese aesthetics. My use of high-fired clays means that my pieces are durable enough for everyday use.
LITTLE TREE STUDIO - Canberra ACT
Alexander has been creating art and playing with mud for as long as he can remember and regularly exhibits his work in galleries in Sydney and Canberra.
Over the years he has worked with many mediums, his favourites being clay. Alex started his ceramics journey in Darlinghurst Sydney when he studied with renowned potter Cameron Williams.
Being a true Libra, his work is constantly evolving and is incredibly creative and diverse. Alexander tells us consistency is just not in his nature, and although this often brings turmoil into his life, over the years, he has learnt to embrace it while letting the constant movement breathe life into his art. No piece is ever the same.
His ceramic work includes beautiful Wabi-Sabi styled tableware, homeware and a vast variety of sculpture pieces. After travelling around Europe with his partner in 2019 — and his fascination with traditional architect forms — his current sculpture love is one of creating ceramic houses and other architect forms.
Alexander most recently exhibited his work at the Canberra Potters Gallery. Day to day he runs a design agency with his partner and creates art from his studio in Canberra.
LOUISE M STUDIO - Marrickville NSW
Louise M studio is the ceramics practice of designer and maker Louise Martiensen. This small ceramics studio is nestled in Sydney’s inner-west and it is from here that Louise produces her ranges of handmade porcelain tablewares and homewares.
Every piece passes through the hands of a maker, being shaped and changed as it goes through the ceramic process and embellished with individual pressings, carvings or colourings. We produce a wide range of cups, plates, bowls, platters and vases in multiple styles, but all united by beauty and utility. These pieces are designed to become a part of your everyday collection.
MADDIE DEERE CERAMICS - Adelaide SA
Maddie works from her studio in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, in a small town called Balhannah. Her work is always functional and often whimsical as she finds joy in the unexpected. Her pieces bear the marks of the maker, and each piece is unlike any other.
Maddie studied ceramics at Uni SA, graduating her Bachelor of Fine Arts (Ceramics) in 2012. She has spent a number of years living and working in Canada, before returning home to set up her Adelaide Hills studio. She teaches wheel throwing and hand-building classes, sharing her experience with her students in intimate classes of 4.
MARI BRAY - Gold Coast QLD
Mari Bray Ceramics is a sustainable Australian business based on the Gold Coast in QLD, where she proudly create handmade, one-of-a-kind ceramic pieces inspired by her Japanese-Brazilian heritage.
Her art became her voice to tell her story which involves happy colours, power of words and rich Brazilian culture.
Her intention is to create unique pieces that connect with people’s emotions focusing on reminding that everyone is beautiful and is here to fly high. Mari’s signature piece is the Moringa which is a ceramic water vessel and the cup is the lid.
. . . “Traditionally in Brazil we place the Moringa on the bedside table to drink water at night. On each moringa I hand paint in a subtle way a Divine word as I believe it will affect the power of the water you will drink everyday”.
My favourite Divine words are JOY, LOVE, ABUNDANCE, BALANCE and GRATITUDE.
RUTH ELLIOTT - Brisbane QLD
Ruth, a Brisbane based potter works from her tiny home studio, mostly making hand-built or wheel thrown vases that tend to be quite geometric, natural and textural. She loves all things handmade and seeks out local makers for most of the things she buys . . . knowing the story behind the object is important to her.
Ruth has always been a maker – from lead-light to needlework or drawing. About 6 years ago, she fell in love with ceramics and went on to spend 2 years learning ceramic skills at the Brisbane Institute of Art . . . meeting some great potters along the way.
Aside from ceramics, Ruth is mum to three school aged boys and in her spare time enjoys studying Visual Arts with particular interests in Australian Art History, Sculpture and Contemporary art.
SHUT UP & RELAX CERAMICS - Brisbane QLD
“I don’t have time for this” was Tracy’s first thought when diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014. Post breast cancer treatment, she had to figure out exactly what she did have time for and it certainly wasn’t her previous career. Tracy’s brain seemed to have rewired itself and sought more creative pursuits instead. So, Shut Up and Relax Ceramics began, in Brisbane, Australia.
. . . I’m Tracy Murray, the maker and designer of Shut up and Relax Ceramics. I’m a hand building ceramicist, working in the under croft of our tiny Queenslander, in Brisbane, Australia. What I now love is making ceramics and guiding others in workshops. I think workshops are the best way to share my passion for making with clay and to show people that everyone has artistic ability. You just need to make the time to create. And for me, celebrating each remarkable ordinary day of living is a way for my overthinking-never-shut-up-brain to chill out. Just a bit. I like to share that too, we all need some calm.
SUE HARROLD POTTERY - Perth WA
Sue has always loved the process of working with clay. The building of it, the carving and the painting. The glazing and firing.
Sue is a maker of many things and her latest additions are these cute yarn bowls. Wheel thrown and then altered to create someone interesting to keep you company while you knit.
TEA4TWO ART - Adelaide SA
Tea4Two Art uses beautiful white porcelain to create unique gift, homeware and jewellery pieces. Every piece is completely hand-formed and from the designing and making stage through to the firing processes, Alana completes every step in her home studio in Adelaide.
Drawing inspiration from nature, texture and her country upbringing, Alana forms small collections of bespoke table ware, ring dishes, necklaces, hanging mobiles, earrings, teapots and the list goes on!
It began as a need for an outlet from Art teaching, being a wife & mother to something that keeps Alana happily busy and brings creative fulfillment. Making ceramics has many steps and she enjoys (most) of the processes to achieve an end result that will last a lifetime.