Throwing Clay

I started playing around with clay many years ago in Adelaide and that’s where I met my husband. We were both members of the South Australian Studio Potter’s Club. One day the company I worked for offered me an opportunity to manage a store in Darwin and I said yes. So the husband and I packed up our belongings and moved to Darwin. We had always intended to move back to Adelaide because that’s where our families were and where we called home. I guess we fell in love with Darwin, we love the laid-back lifestyle and everything seems slower here somehow, and the people more friendly. Darwin is quite a multicultural community and there’s people here from all over the world so there seems to be more tolerance and acceptance of each other’s differences. The Dry Season is amazing and there are great places to camp and visit and it’s so close to Indonesia that we visit Bali for weekends.

A few years ago we had an Open Garden where the public is invited to come and look around your yard. Like all pottery makers we had some bits and pieces stashed away. To brighten up the place we put some of our work out on a table. Low and behold we sold it all, people loved it. We didn’t really know it at the time but that day was the beginning of Studio Eleven-Lee. After our success we thought if we could sell a bit of pottery here and there we could afford to buy more supplies, so that became our focus. We got involved with Tactile Arts as they have a fantastic pottery studio and we started to do their Craft Fair and the Green Ant Christmas Craft Fair. These events are really well attended and our hobby started to take off. There’s a vibrant art and craft culture in Darwin that is a real source of inspiration. Connecting with like-minded people has led us to really embrace creativity which is really exciting.

We started to do more markets which meant making more pottery and artworks and eventually we were doing so well we registered a business. I’ve now gone part-time at work to spend more time doing something I absolutely love, making pottery and artworks. My husband and I have been fortunate enough to secure a couple of really exciting commissions for a school and the Wildlife Park. We’ve created public art for Darwin Festival and collaborated with other artists in exhibitions at funky locations. It is so amazing to have enthusiastic art lovers tell you how beautiful your work is. Now days both my husband and I have part-time jobs. We have a regular stall at Parap Markets and spent lots of time creating art and pottery and in a bit of twist of fate, we both teach pottery at the Adult Night Classes. There is so much opportunity in Darwin for anyone that’s prepared to have a go. It’s a wonderful place to live and work.