Clatter (10-22 October 2001)

A members’ exhibition incorporating the H.R. Hughan Award for functional ceramics and the Stonehouse Potters Award for tableware, “CLATTER” was held at Artistcare Gallery in South Melbourne from 10th to 22nd October. Thirty-one potters interpreted ‘functional’ in 31 different ways, making for a stimulating exhibition and a challenge for the judge, Neville French.

The H.R. Hughan Award of $500 was given to Graeme Wilkie for his ‘masterful’ anagama-fired platter, decorated ‘with ease but precision’ in large, swirling brushstrokes which perfectly complemented the blush received from the anagama

The Stonehouse Potters Award of $250 went to Jane Sawyer for her ‘Fluid Series: Jug & Container’, a subtle interlocking pair, white-slipped and clear-glazed with a touch of blue on the rims – sensuous and inviting.

Liz Low received a Merit Award for her ‘Porcelain jug and two beakers’, a delicately balanced trio of finely thrown pieces, sensitively marked and in the palest blue glaze.

We welcome the new members who participated in the exhibition, and hope many more made the time to go and see the high quality of work in the show.

Our thanks to Neville French for judging and opening “CLATTER”; to Ian and Sandy Domeyer of Goldfields Cellars in Warrandyte who supplied glasses for the opening; to Xan Auldist, Alex Barnes, Callen Peacock and Peter Vermont who gave up an entire day of their school holidays to paint the boxes and plinths; and to our hard working Exhibitions sub-committee, and especially Judy Roberts, who put “CLATTER” together at very short notice.

CLATTER: OPENING REMARKS BY NEVILLE FRENCH

“Thankyou for the invitation to open this wonderful exhibition and for the privilege of judging the awards.

It is now over 25 years since I started making pots and had that first adrenaline rush at the opening of the kiln. The curiosity, anxiety and thrill of opening the kiln hasn’t diminished over the years. For me, the alchemy and transformation of ceramic materials with heat is a fascinating and rewarding challenge. I think it can be best described as a ‘difficult pleasure’, to use Brett Whiteley’s term.

Pots are a reflection of the maker – a fusion of personality and culture with materials and processes.

Work of the highest quality achieves a truth and beauty through the development of knowledge and skills and a criterion of aesthetic values derived from tradition and innovation. It requires sincerity and commitment.

In Australia, our ideals of truth and beauty were initially influenced by the writings of Bernard Leach whose standards of beauty were based on the Chinese Sung pots of the 10th Century. These were generally restrained in form and decoration with a beauty derived from the intrinsic nature of the materials and the forming and firing processes. This was further reinforced by the influence of Japanese Zen Buddhist ideals of humility in work and harmony with nature.

Today we have a multitude of influences: from other cultures, architecture and design movements, painting and sculpture, for example.

I believe the individual artist potter making tableware today requires an awareness of the context in which these pots sit and requires sophisticated judgment of form, texture, weight, balance, decoration and glaze to bring vitality to work that is unique. This aesthetic judgment and discernment is hard earned and is acquired through practise and experience.

Together with educational institutions, groups such as the CV provide a valuable opportunity for people to get together and discuss ideas and techniques and develop an appreciation of different attitudes through workshops, demonstrations and exhibitions.

This exhibition is an opportunity for us to celebrate the way that pots can enrich our lives, through the creative activity of making, the sharing and exchange of ideas and in the ways that handcrafted pots can function in our daily lives. These pots can take on special meaning and purpose and when handled they can excite, comfort, calm or surprise – they can engage us and contribute to our sense of well being and they can help make our daily rituals extraordinary.

Congratulations to all those exhibiting and thankyou for your contribution to an exciting and stimulating show.”

Neville French

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