Open pottery studio

This was part of the wider Australian ceramics community ‘open studios’ weekend, which many ceramicists around the country opened their doors.

I decided this would be an excellent opportunity to show my family, who were visiting from Sydney, Mr Thomas’ work, and give them a taste of the world that is country pottery making.

The weather wasn’t amazing, but the Thomas’ hospitality definitely made up for it, with tea, coffee, and my four-year-old nephew’s favourite biscuits on offer. Mr Thomas gave a grand tour of his studio and explained his process for creating the incredible designs.

He showed his home-made kilns and glaze, as well as talked myself and my family through the intricacies of keeping the fire at a certain temperature for the course of a few days. He showed us his mistakes and accidents that happened as well, proving that artists are humans too, and not everything goes according to plan.

Mr Thomas noticed my nephew’s interest in the poddy calf roaming at the back fence, so took him to the shearing shed to feed the day-old poddy lamb. This was such a wonderful experience, something my nephew will never forget. Poor lamb must have been frightened from all the kerfuffle because he took a while to start drinking.

Despite the harrowing wind and spitting rain, the open pottery studio ended up being an open farmhouse to my family.

Quite a few people showed up over the weekend to get a sneak peek into the behind-the-scenes action of Mr Thomas’s art, with various pieces being sold. I even bought myself a new fruit bowl!