It was wonderful to win second prize for my piece Dry-Wet-Dry at Breaking the Drought, Ceramics Victoria’s annual exhibition held on Herring Island, a beautiful island surrounded by the drifting waters of the Yarra River.

Judges Joe Gentile (former CV Inc president) and Jacquie Nichols-Reeves (Senior Arts Officer and Curator at Whitehorse City Council) said:

The cracked centres of the two vessels draw our attention to the harshness of the sun and the aftermath of drought. Hope is stunningly evident in the bright glazed centre of the third piece.

I described my work in this way:

Dry, cracking clays mark drought times. Water holes turn to clay pans, skin peeling, harsh dryness.

Rain refills the land, but dryness will come again, and the water recedes again.

My work is about the land and how we relate to it. Using the wheel, I altered these forms, folding the rims, and sealing the surface with terra sigillata from my own block at Green Gully.