Pottery Convention helps artists expand network – Bundaberg Now

Local artists will have the opportunity to expand their professional network and learn new skills at the annual Wide Bay Burnett Pottery Association Convention, this year to be held at Moore Park Beach.

From 11 to 13 October, ceramicists and pottery enthusiasts from around the region will converge on Moore Park Beach Community Hall for hands-on activities, demonstrations, talks and networking opportunities.

Bundaberg Pottery Group President, and Convenor of this year’s convention, Carmen Maybanks said convention attendees would circulate between tutors as suits their interests, ask questions and gain valuable insights to apply to their own practice.

“Building strong connections and networking helps to grow an artists’ opportunity of what they have to offer, to expand career opportunities for them,” Carmen said.

“By networking with others, the potters will be able to plan and create opportunities for joint exhibitions and further advancement of their careers in another defined space.”

The convention has been supported by Bundaberg Regional Council and Arts Queensland through the Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF), which Carmen said has been beneficial for making the professional development accessible to more residents.

“It is very expensive when you have to travel away for advancement in your art speciality,” she said.

“By bringing the tutors to our region more potters gain the opportunity to see more potters at one time.

“RADF has assisted in bringing higher profile artists with international credit.”

Bundaberg Regional Council’s Arts, Heritage and Asset Management portfolio spokesperson Cr John Learmonth said the benefits of holding the convention in the region would continue into the future.

“Hosting events like this, with high calibre artists and presenters, bolsters and supports our local artists to grow their art practice,” Cr Learmonth said.

“Being around like-minded, creative people is inspiring, and produces connections and opportunities for future collaborations.

“The public can also get involved, with a free talk to hear Cathy Franzi and Fleur Schell discuss their practice at Bundaberg Regional Art Gallery on Thursday 10 October.”

Convention delegates and members of the public can register to attend the free talk by Cathy Franzi and Fleur Schell on the Bundaberg Potters website.

When:  Friday 11 October to Sunday 13 October

Where:  Welcome at Bundaberg Potters, Walker Street, Bundaberg

Convention at Moore Park Beach Community Hall, Club Avenue, Moore Park Beach

Cost:  $100 members, $140 non-members. Spaces limited, booking essential.

Registrations for the convention is open to all potters, contact Donna Dwyer at Donnadwyer1@hotmail.com for bookings.

Convention Presenters

Cathy Franzi, Canberra ACT

Cathy is a full-time studio artist exploring botanical and environmental themes.

In 2015 she was awarded a Doctorate in Visual Arts (Ceramics) from the Australian National University.

Through her art practice, she explores how Australian plants and environmental knowledge might be expressed in ceramic form and surface.

Cathy will demonstrate how to ‘draw’ on clay using textural imagery techniques, such as carving, sgraffito, incising, impressing, slip and ink inlay, stencilling and water erosion relief.

Fleur Schell, Perth, WA

Fleur is a porcelain and mixed media artist, illustrator, writer and presenter.

Her art practice is centred around story-telling and re-wilding the imagination.

Through narrative objects, Fleur creates a room or habitat in our imagination for threatened native animals.

Using her recognisable soft slab construction style, Fleur will explain how texture, detail and contrast are used to tell a sentimental story.

Wendy Hatfield-Witt, Brisbane, Qld

Wendy has been a practicing artist and teacher of functional and sculptural ceramics for over 30 years.

Wendy’s primary focus is to create work that is both aesthetically pleasing and utilitarian, believing that one can never have too many pots in the kitchen.

Throughout her career, Wendy has taught wheel throwing, handbuilding, decorative techniques, and glaze technology to beginners and advanced students.

Wendy’s demonstration will be an explanation of photographic screen printing on clay.

 Avi Amesbury, Bundaberg

Avi has studied and been an artist-in-residence around the world, and her work has been selected for national and international exhibitions.

She collects clays dug up from different parts of the landscape and tests them for their colour response on porcelain.

The results become her palette, used to capture the colour nuances of the Australian landscape.

Avi will demonstrate how she tests found clays for colour, and how she combines slab, stamping, press mold and slip casting techniques to create finished work in porcelain.

Jill Lyle, Yandaran

Jill has been involved in arts and crafts since she was a child and was a teaching principal at Wet Hill School where she developed a love of mosaics.

In 2023, Jill coordinated a mosaic project at the Bundaberg Pottery Group’s shed.

Jill will give a hands-on demonstration of how to make a mosaic work, including planning a design, breaking and cutting pottery pieces and different types of backing and sealant.

Anita-Lee Summers, Moore Park Beach

Anita-Lee’s passion for pottery began at primary school, and she vividly remembers collecting clay from her front yard, making pinch pots, and baking them in the oven.

Coming from a highly talented family of Aboriginal artists, Anita-Lee was taught that art is a deeply connected practice that preserves the many layers of Aboriginal culture.

Her disciplined practice allows her to preserve the unique Aboriginal art style of cross-hatching, x-ray painting and linear style.

Anita-Lee will talk about how her combination of cultural practice with the ancient medium of pottery ensures she has a channel to open discussions to help grow a deeper community understanding.

Meredyth Castro, Buxton

Meredyth is a member of the Firehouse Potters Club in Childers and the Wide Bay Burnett Potters Association.

She has enjoyed making pottery for a number of years and has been involved in the art of recycling for much longer.

She has been highly commended in local art competitions and her kaleidoscope, made from a 44-gallon drum and found materials, was exhibited at the Judith Wright Contemporary Art Gallery in Brisbane.

Meredyth will demonstrate how to make different tools from recycled materials.

The Regional Arts Development Fund (RADF) is a partnership between the Queensland Government and Bundaberg Regional Council to support local arts and culture in regional Queensland.