Note: Our studio and Gallery are closed for renovations until November 2024.
WORKSHOPS: We will re-commence our workshops in 2025. They will be bookable through the ClassBento website and we will provide a link here.
MARKETS We will not be attending markets until 2025, and will announce our attendance details here and on social media.
Our primary interest is glazing and finding new ways with traditional Japanese and English glazes plus many of our own formulation. We are always testing, seeking new colours that can be achieved by the minerals of the earth in limitless combination. We enjoy using glazes in a painterly fashion to represent landscapes and the beauty of the earth as seen from above
INSPIRATION
GLAZE COMBINATIONS
Ocean Blue. A fresh take on a favourite combination. Clean blues evoke the deep and ever-changing oceans surrounding Australia.
Bushfire. Our most popular glaze combination by far. Reds, oranges, black, pale grey and eggshell blue with an occasional slash of brighter blue to signify the hope of rain. During the dangerous Australian summer, bushfire is never far from our minds…
Thunder. Our Thunder glaze range is inspired by a typical late summer scene, looking towards the front paddocks (alpacas in the distance, Charlie in foreground) and a stormy, summer sky to the east of us.
Towac. Glaze colours inspired by the crisp blue skies and rich volcanic soils in the Towac Valley of Mt Canobolas in mid-western NSW. The colours of the earth formed by metallic minerals introduced to base glazes which are then dipped, brushed and sprayed over and under each other. Every pot is a unique representation of the Australian landscape and no two results are ever identical.
Cherry. Our rutile-saturated chun, which can produce any combination of blues and purples through to coppery reds in a transparent waterfall, is teamed with our signature gentle blue chun and slashed through with copper red.
This combination is inspired by our cherry orchard and all the hard work we have to do picking and preserving cherries just before Christmas – but it’s well worth it.
Forest. Inspired by our travels through the snowy birch forests of Finland, Russia and Sweden, this popular glaze combination is achieved by combining our base Tenmoku glaze with a green chun.
Nightsky. We use different Tenmoku and several chun glazes to achieve this favourite combination. Inspired by our love of looking up into the Universe at night through a clean, country atmosphere devoid of streetlights.
Kamikochi. A smouldering volcano, scalding onsen pools, a freezing crystal blue river and lush ancient forests in a beautiful hidden alpine valley. The jewel of Nagano prefecture. Selected, Japanese-inspired forms in this glaze combination are available exclusively from our Studio Showroom.
It's an experimental journey
Omne Trium Perfectum
The alchemy of mixing glaze materials is an important part of the process. We are passionate about our glazes and are constantly testing new ones. Macro photography gives an insight to the alchemical process and, close up, you can see the interaction and reactions of metals contained in the glaze as they meld together at 1285°c and are caught forever together as they cool.
5500 years ago, before the great Egyptian pyramids were built and well before Rome was founded, the people of Ireland had a liking for groupings of three – especially three closely related people or things. The triple-spiral (or ‘Triskele’) is often referred to as a Celtic design however, it was carved about 2500 years before Celtic culture reached Ireland. Pictured left is the most famous triple spiral of them all in the inner chamber of Newgrange, Co Meath.
Our Hillgrove Pottery mark is an impressed spiral, often presented as a group of three. Susan’s personal mark is three, small impressed circles made with the spine of a giant sea urchin. Derek’s personal mark is three straight lines within a circle.