Sodu Studio

On the final day of the (Day #5) Keith set us the challenge of creating a surrealist self-portrait, which had to be hand-built. A tough challenge for Jason and Elise, who are both enthusiastic and skilled wheel-throwers but not a fan of hand building. Straight away when Keith said “surrealist” I thought of Salvador Dalí, who I studied in high school and is a well-known Spanish surrealist artist.

Since I had some success the previous day with slab-building, I decided to create a stack of three cubes to represent the three stages of my creative career (working in professional theatre, guitar-making and now ceramics). Again, the slab-building technique proved a slow starter, and it wasn’t until 2:30pm that I had my cubes assembled. I sculpted a two-headed mask to represent my time working in theatre, a film camera for studying film during my time at WAAPA, a saw for my props and scenery building background and a drum to represent my time playing drums in a punk band in my 20s. These were all positioned on and around my stack of cubes, with the faces at the top melting down the stack.

‘Potter of the Day' went to Michelle, who created a self-portrait that represented her creative and sometimes “head in the clouds” tendencies (as described by Michelle herself). I came ‘Runner-up’ with my Salvador Dalí inspired pieced, which I was pretty stoked about. It was so interesting to see everyone's different styles and what aspects of themselves they chose to represent in their pieces. 🥰

The 4th challenge was to make a light sculpture to hold up to 4x tea light candles. Keith encouraged us to think about how the light would interact with our piece and to get creative. My initial idea was to throw a form on the wheel to carve into, but that seemed quite risky given how unpredictable and rushed the drying would be. I have seen a lot of people online making tiny houses and buildings for candle holders, so I decided to make a large version for my sculpture. My inspiration came from an Airbnb called ‘The Old Schoolhouse’ my partner Mel and I had stayed in the week before in Balhannah, South Australia, which had previously been featured on an episode of ‘Restoration Australia’. Mon and Charlie (who restored the schoolhouse) now run it as an B’n’B and were so lovely to us during our stay over Easter. It felt like our own little sanctuary, so felt like a fitting idea for a lighting sculpture.

We had a bit of extra time up our sleeve, as Keith was held up until 5:30pm running some teaching workshops. I needed all the time I could get, as rolling out slabs of clay and getting them to dry to the right conditions was a challenge. The first few slabs I set out to dry in the sun started to crack, so I ended up squirreling all my slabs away in a nook at the back of the b**r garden to dry a bit slower. This meant that by 1:30pm I still hadn’t assembled any of my slabs! Several onlookers (including my partner Mel) were looking quite alarmed at my slow progress.

Over the next few hours I put together and carved out the windows and features of the schoolhouse, but it came right down to the wire. I was still smoothing out my piece as I sat at my wheel and awaited Keith’s judgment.

Throughout the 'Throwdownunder’ challenge I was seated next to Tracey, who is an experienced hand builder. I watched in amazement as she quickly hand-built her Halloween-themed sculpture of a menacing humanoid tree and characterful pumpkins. She was pretty much done shortly after lunch, and so was able to leisurely build a surround for her sculpture in the afternoon. I was impressed with Tracey’s skills, and it was no surprise that she took out “Potter of the Day” award for Day #4, with myself coming ‘Runner-up’ with the schoolhouse (thanks again Tracey for your advice about the windows) and Jason also as ‘Runner-up’ for his piece that represented his relationship with his siblings.

Now that I'm back in Perth I'll have to make some more little buildings! 🙃

Thanks once again to my partner Mel for the photos! 🥰

Day #3 at the was to make a vessel for pit firing. We were given 3kg of Black Wattle raku clay, which was more clay than I'd ever thrown before! I was very glad to not have to face a 'who-can-throw-the-tallest' challenge against Jason, as he smashed out not one but two giant vases that day. Tracey the hand building queen went for the coil-building method, and later in the week her vessel was one of only two to survive the pit firing intact! Congrats Jason for taking the 'Potter of the Day' title with his colourful vase and Michells and Elise for both being 'Runner-up' for Day #3. 🥰

My biggest takeaway was that burnishing still-wet clay is not how I like to spend my time! 😂

Wow! Where to even begin? 😅

It's been a week or so since we got back from in NSW, where I was one of eight potters taking part in the with Keith Brymer Jones.

It was such an incredible experience, to meet everybody and soak up the clay-loving atmosphere, and to get the opportunity to work with clay full time for the week of the festival. I don't think I've ever been so exhausted and exhilarated at the same time. 🤪

The 'Throwdownunder' comprised of 5 days of challenges. Each morning at 10am Keith would set a new challenge, and we would typically have until 4pm the same day to make our work and present it for judging in front of an audience. We had no idea what the challenges would be ahead of time.

The challenge on Day #1 was to make a 'breakfast set' comprising of a matching bowl, plate, jug and two cups. It needed to also represent us as a person. I decided to make my set a homage to my work as Volunteer Coordinator at Trillion Trees Australia, so I decorated my pieces with sgraffito designs of different WA banksia flowers and leaves.

I was so chuffed to be announced 'Potter of the Day' for the first challenge! Claire came 'Runner-up' for her wonderful dog-themed set, and there were many other strong contenders. What a fantastic start to the 'Throwdownunder'.

Thank you to my wonderful partner Mel for taking so many great photos throughout the week. 🥰

I am excited to share that I have been selected to participate in the 'Throwdownunder' at Clay Gulgong 2026 from April 12th-16th, judged by Keith Brymer Jones (of The Great Pottery Throwdown fame). I am beyond excited (and more than a little nervous) to be part of this event and meet potters from all over the world at Clay Gulgong, which takes place in the town of Gulgong in regional NSW.

I've been getting busy on the wheel in preparation, and look forward to learning a bunch of new skills in the lead-up to the event, as who knows what challenges Keith will throw at us! 😅