Artist Statement
The ‘clay workers’ I have most enjoyed observing at my property Quitotica, on the Sunshine coast, are wasps.  They are commonly called ‘mud wasps’, and I think most Australians would have seen their various constructions attached to mainly out-of-the rain places.
Watching them at work it occurred to me that their methodology is virtually the anthesis of my own, although occasionally we do share the same clay.  They have an unerring eye for selecting the right clay for the job, and appear to have an 100 per cent success rate with their work, yet I haven’t noticed any wasp ‘schools’ or ‘seminars’ in action.
Simply, wasps work from an instinct born of millions of generations of survivors.
I am a first generation potter from western Queensland, born in black soil country, where there was virtually no clay anyway.  I started potting more to relax, when I was a young journalist, and identified a connection between Buddhism, meditation and ceramics.
The first kiln I built was wood-fired, but much of my production over the past twenty years has come from gas-fired kilns, predominantly surfaced with metallic saturation and copper red glazes, and Shino types.  I think extended wood-firing practices have significant conceptual and performance are elements embedded in them, often underscored by an ideal of collectivism.
Unlike those insect potters, I have to make a lot of work to get worthwhile results.  I sincerely try to select carefully, sorting the blessings from the condemnations.
I also enjoy the obvious fact that functional ceramics can be integrated meaningfully into everyday life.  When hand-made pieces succeed at this functional level, and in addition continually invite contemplation, I consider them quite valuable.
April 2006

vase






Vase
270 x 250 mm.
Wheel-thrown and altered form. Three day wood-firing with carbon trap circles on shino type glaze.


bottle






Bottle
210 x 100 mm
Wheel-thrown and altered form. Three day wood-firing with ash and flame marks on shino type glaze.