Making the ceramics studio
So I put my welding and construction skills to use found the only area in our small house that I hadn’t already converted into some art room.
I was relegated to the outside covered deck and walkway where there was a 3.5m x 1m stretch of dirt my dog would lie in and drag mess inside.
Seemed the perfect spot, so I got to work and built myself what was meant to be a roll away easy pack up ceramics studio.
Its not rolling away any time soon… it is here to stay as once I got the wheel a short time after was having a 32 amp electric kiln wired into the walkway between my house and ceramics alfresco area.
Again I reassured myself as I dug into my savings to buy a kiln…6 weeks stuck at home what is the point off making ceramics and not being able to fire them on my schedule and learn from 100’s of mistakes over the 6 weeks.
I didn’t want to burden my fiancé Mike with several trips to the studio each week with my wacky creations.
“I thought they would most likely roll around the back of the ute a few days before being delivered in pieces.”
How giving up climbing led me to ceramics
I didn’t plan on becoming a ceramicist.
For years, my life revolved around being a personal trainer, climbing, and working with steel — pursuits that demanded strength, focus, and a deep connection to the body and materials. When I was forced to stop climbing and undergo a full hip replacement at 38, I lost more than a physical outlet.
Stopping climbing left a huge hole in my life — physically, mentally, and socially.
With climbing suddenly impossible and a long wait ahead of me for surgery, I tried a ceramics class in Geelong. I was hooked from the intro session. Monday nights that once belonged to climbing became hours at the wheel, and what began as curiosity quickly turned into obsession.