Gellibrand Pottery in the otways
In late June this year we purchased Gellibrand Pottery in The Otways, which is about 2 hours from Melbourne and 30 minutes outside of Colac, heading toward the coast. The story itself of how we came across this property and all the signs and synchronicities that signalled it was the one we’ve been looking for flowed effortlessly, or somewhat effortlessly to purchase. It is a truly magical place, the animals, the view, the position, the studio, the valley and the gardens, that each day I pinch myself for the good fortune that landed us here. I do believe it manifested at just the right time even though we’d been dreaming for years for something like this.
The pottery studio
We’ve been here for three and a half months now, going backwards and forwards between Williamstown and Gellibrand, and it’s taking a while to get set up down here. There are benefits to slowly moving in rather than arriving with everything we own. We get to choose what we really need down here and it’s not much. As far as the studio is concerned, we’ve mainly transported clay, some tools, a few glaze buckets and wheels just recently. Arriving late winter, the garden seemed to beckon more than the studio, whispering start here. Cleaning it up before the onset of spring growth and the possibility of being overwhelmed by weeds and long grass was also somewhat compelling.
It’s now the start of summer and I’ve finally made some larger pieces, a couple of vases and a planter, combining wheel throwing and coiling techniques to gain more height. I love the combination of throwing and hand building and finishing off with texture, mindful also of how I would like to glaze this piece. I like to use texture for glaze interaction, natural crevices for the glaze to break or pool into for effect.
To be full set up down here is to have the kilns firing. The electric kiln is still in Williamstown, and although we have two gas kilns here, they have not been used for 15 years and require work and knowledge to get up and running again. Looking forward to firing in both reduction and oxidation.
THE GARDEN
The garden is slowly revealing itself with the staggered flowering of bulbs, roses and a myriad of other plantings like the Echium candicans, pictured here, commonly known as the ‘Pride of Madeira’ which attracts loads of pollinators like bees and hover flies. It is very exciting seeing flowers and plants emerge, hidden and resting beneath the soil’s surface waiting for their time and season to shine and put on a show and not knowing what’s coming up next.
Photography is another love, not so technical, a felt moment that says yes take me. It will weave through the property, the studio and garden bringing to life the story, the new chapter, the daily pages of our time here, the highs and lows and pursuit of happiness.
