From the singular vision of Carla Dinnage to Kaz Morton‘s gorgeous pieces and our long-time favourite Jones & Co, loyal readers will know that we’re a bit ceramics obsessed around here – it’s hard to resist the allure of the handmade, no? And in great news, the Aussie ceramics scene continues to thrive with many new players in the market. Here’s our pick of the bunch.
Milk Workshop: Handmade in small batches in Melbourne by ceramicist Cate Brown, the Milk Workshop range is both beautiful and functional. With a background in fashion and graphic design, Cate incorporates minimalist clean lines and organic textures into her work. Subtle details, illustrations and glaze finishes prove less really can be more.
Benna Co: Inspired by the colours and textures of the Australian landscape, artist Kelly Murphy creates beautiful yet functional ceramic pieces including platters, planters, vases and wall hangings. We’re particularly taken with her plates and platters which are uniquely glazed to appear as abstract landscape paintings and aerial Aussie views.
Made by Bowie: Created by potter Kate Bowman on Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, the Made by Bowie collection has a nostalgic 70’s feel and includes everything from planters to vases, plates, mugs and even the fabulous ‘Luna lamp’ which is crafted from a single block of clay.
The Luna lamp
Paxxy & Flora: Paxxy & Flora is a Brisbane-based ceramics brand built from a love of pink, flowers and a desire to bring beauty and joy to the everyday. Every item is designed, hand moulded and glazed by the brand’s owner Cas Thompson who moonlights as a florist too. Her custom rainbow plates have a bit of a cult following.
Winterwares: Handmade in Western Australia’s port city of Fremantle, the beautiful Winterwares range is the creation of former graphic designer Simone Nabholz. The largely monochrome collection includes rustic plates, bowls, mugs and vases and draws on the Japanese tradition of wabi-sabi and the Danish custom of hygge.
Bei Creative: Small batch, fun and functional, the Bei Creative range is handmade by Belinda Hartwich in her home studio in Victoria’s Warrnambool. We love her use of colour across the range that features everything from wall crosses to vases, bowls, mugs, planters and spoons.
Hot find: Colourful, functional one-of-a-kind Aussie ceramics
“The word ‘chimerical’ means unchecked imagination and that’s the feeling we want to bring to our work. We would describe our work as eclectic, colourful and abstract!” says Charissa Schlink, one half…
I have a thing for ceramics. There’s something about art which you can hold in your hands, knowing that the artist who lovingly made it, also did so with theirs. Unlike paintings, you can often buy a smaller, ‘entry level’ piece so start a collection. And it will give you so much joy, trust me! You don’t just look at ceramics you can hold them too. Some even have important jobs besides looking pretty, like displaying flowers! And you can never have too many beautiful little dishes (like the Carla Dinnage ones below) dotted around your home to hold things like earrings, hairbands, keys, you name it!
So, let me introduce you to six great ceramicists and their work; some I’ve loved for years and some who are recent and exciting discoveries!
CARLA DINNAGE
Carla is Melbourne-based and has been on our radar for the longest time (with my love of gold, pink and green, that’s probably no surprise!). She studied fine art ceramics at RMIT in 1994. After travelling and a few different jobs in admin, marketing and merchandising, she married and had four kids in six years!
“Because I was so busy with the kids I really needed a creative outlet which led me back into my ceramics. I started to make a few small pieces and was driving out to Dandenong to get them fired. Friends and family started to then purchase my pieces so I knew there was a market out there,” she says.
“I purchased my first kiln and started my Instagram account. I then started to get a lot of wholesale inquiries. I now have two large kilns which run around the clock seven days a week and am stocked in over 40 stores Australia wide.”
Susan Christie is the woman behind Formantics. This was going to be an Australian roundup until we saw this New Zealander’s work (being represented over here by Greenhouse Interiors) and had to include it! She’s based in Auckland. I mean, wow.
Formantics
“I get very excited about playing with colour and form, whilst exploring ideas of balance and symmetry,” Susan says.
She discovered clay in the last year of her fine arts degree in 2015. “Now I’m obsessed! I traded in my profession as a psychologist to pursue art and have finally found what makes my tail wag!”
I’ve been following Ness Lockyer and her work for as long as I’ve been blogging, I’m sure!
Based in Tamar Valley, Tasmania, she makes small batch, handmade ceramics featuring her own hand drawn calligraphy and artwork. You could say she’s multi-talented!
Ness says she’s been an artist from as soon as she could hold a pencil. “But I was always scared to show my work to people, so I tucked it away for years. It wasn’t until I went on maternity leave with our first child, from a corporate job, that the need to create again became huge. I started my blog and making small things in ceramics (I hated ceramics at school, funnily enough), as well as screen printing my designs onto linen to sew into cushions. It just grew from there.”
Ness started doing architecture when she left school, but realised her love for interiors and homewares was what really lit her up. “I’m glad that’s how it happened as I couldn’t imagine doing anything else now.”
Madeline King is the creative force behind Earth Darlings, based on the Sunshine Coast in QLD. She makes all her pieces in her home studio.
“My style is warm, playful and honest,” she says.
Madeline majored in ceramics at university in the final year of a visual arts degree and became hooked!
“I have worked in various home studios since, between day jobs and then having children. Most recently, it’s been fulfilling to share my work more widely. “
Alice is based in Barwon Heads, VIC, and describes her work as bold and rustic stoneware.
“I am originally from Tasmania however our family are residing in Barwon Heads for a change of scenery while our three girls are young. I started ceramics in Tasmania as a six-week course which focussed on the three basic hand building techniques.
“I loved it and so kept practicing ceramics in my home studio in Launceston for many years, selling ceramics to friends and family.”
Karen Morton is Kaz Ceramics and she works from her purpose built studio on her property in Mount Eliza, overlooking the Moorooduc plains. “It’s surrounded by lush trees and wildlife and its proximity to my home makes it easy for late-night kiln loading and sneak-peeking when I’m working on new projects!”
Kaz (another we’ve been a fan of for years!) describes her work as organic and textural with pops of colour.
“I dabbled a little with ceramics when I was doing my painting degree in Ireland. It wasn’t until many years later when I became pregnant and had the most acute sense of smell and couldn’t stand the smell of oil paint, that I returned to working with clay and rediscovered my love for it. It’s such a beautiful natural material to work with; very rewarding and, like kids, definitely tests your patience.
“I was also working at a school at the time in the ceramics department and was introduced to Julia Green from Greenhouse Interiors who filled her car boot with my work and knocked on the door of Husk. I’ll never forget Julia calling me later that day to say they loved the pieces so much that they wanted to place a trial order for 300 of them. I nearly died!
“It’s been non-stop since that day really! I love what I do, spend a lot of hours in my studio and have such a great team of people around me. I consider myself very fortunate.”
