CERAMICIST

During lockdown I was given the uninterrupted time I needed to get ready to fire my new wood fire kiln. I live in the bush outside Katoomba, one of the major tourist towns in NSW. We had had a long and fraught summer of bushfire in 2019-20 which burned down Australia’s east coast over the space of six months; as a firefighter, I hadn’t been into the workshop for three months. It was hard to make the return from firefighting and get my head back into pottery. I had come within 1.5 kilometers of losing our house and workshop. I had lived and literally breathed bushfire for three months.

For the first two weeks after it rained, I fell asleep every time I sat down. One day, I was found head in hands in front of the computer, sound asleep. But it did rain and I was very keen to fire my new kiln. Lockdown forced me to stay at home and do it. I set about making to fill the glaze chamber which took about four weeks, and then moved onto the ash pit.

Once I got back into the rhythm of work I remembered why I loved it so much. I have a kick-wheel so no engine buzzing away— just peace—and thoughts about the past and about what the future would bring. I also found myself tinkering with small sculptural pieces relating to the natural movement of clay when pushed. I had the time. Lots of it.

Strange trips into my community were always ponderous. No traffic, plenty of parking, no tourists. An air of disbelief and the wonderful joy of seeing friends even from a distance. An Easter without traffic jams. Lockdown for me slowed the pace of life, calmed the soul, and gave me the time and concentration to achieve results from my new kiln that I had been planning for years.