It’s been 4 years since I moved back to Tasmania to start a new chapter. As this has been a transient period, I have been working from the TCA Studio in Glenorchy for the last 3 years. This has been an amazing opportunity to meet a multitude of Tasmanian ceramicists and to give myself some time to reinvigorate my studio practice.
The time has come to establish an independent studio at home so I am (+ my wonderful family members) undertaking the task of building a Studio from scratch, well almost. In my backyard is an old shed, built in the 1950s which has been sadly neglected. I have been using it as a storage space since buying my home, but the time has come to make this into my Studio. I have worked in so many spaces over the years from a car port/garage, farm shed, a verandah, 2 industrial sheds, a cow bails, a heritage bank building, a TAFE studio, a University studio, and a few spare rooms here and there. This is the first time I am creating a space specifically catered to the needs of my practice.
Built from Tasmanian hardwood and clad in the Tasmanian style of the era pale yellow weatherboards, this little building is solid and has withstood the roaring forties for 69 years. Unfortunately, due to a life by the sea and those battering winds, most of the weatherboards are now rotten so I am planning to replace them with a metal cladding. The floor also needs a little repair work, but I am grateful it is concrete, which is so important for a ceramics studio.
One of the most important aspects of a studio is the kiln room, so we have started to add an extension to house my collection of kilns. For a number of reasons, I have made this a separate room and will be adding a wet area to this space. This means that I can ventilate this room with a fan extraction unit and due to the harsh winters here I can also heat my main working space efficiently.
Over the Summer I am hoping to make a lot of progress so that it is a comfortable space to be working in through the Winter of 2020. Fingers crossed all goes to plan.
If you are interested in the progress of my little space, please check back here regularly or SUBSCRIBE to my blog for updates straight to your mailbox.