The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 50 No 2 July 2011

Focus: Ceram ics + Utility
Anne Braithwaite is a student at Northern Beaches TAFE
and is completing her Advanced Diploma of Fine Arts with a
focus on tableware. She works part-time as a nurse.
Karen Weiss (KW): How did you start with clay?
Anne Braithwaite (AB): There was the craze for painting
on moulded pieces, the Paint-A-Plate thing. By the time I had
five cups the same shape, I was over it. They said, "Why don't
you go down to Northern Beaches TAFE." My background
is nursing. I had never seen clay in my life. The first class I
watched John Edye throw a bowl and I got goosebumps, and
that was it. I've spent fifteen years at Northern Beaches TAFE
which is a fantastic place for expert advice.
KW: What is it about tableware that intrigues you?
AB: Functional ware to me is the most sensuous, delightful
way of being surrounded by pieces. I can never understand putting the effort into cooking a dish and
then putting it on a plain white plate; there's nothing to enhance the food. You need a certain type of
plate or bowl for a certain type of food. The two go together. It makes [eating) a pleasurable, relaxing
event. It's nice watching [people) unconsciously running their hands around the side of a plate or
stroking a cup while they're talking. They wouldn't do that with a mass produced plate. That 's what
makes me feel good inside.
KW: You 've visited Japan several times and use a Shigaraki-type clay and Oribe and Nuka style glazes,
what draws you to this aesthetic?
AB: It's the unexpected I like in the Japanese [ceramics). the happy accidents. I love their philosophy,
the heritage, the contemporary Japanese potters who have taken on the traditional side and opened it
right up. They look at something for what it is, not necessarily for what they were going to do. [With
my work) I often start with an accident that's happened to something else. I think - that could be
developed, do some drawings, do some tests, take it a bit further - then more accidents happen. It's
always tangents.
KW: How do you feel about marketing your work?
AB: When you make handmade pieces, it's never going to be a huge market, unless you are massproducing
moulded pieces. The pieces I've put in galleries sell well, so the market's there.
Marketing and getting your name known is a very big part of being able to sell your work for what
it's worth. I'd rather be making, but when you are getting out there, you are meeting gallery owners
and people who are passionate about ceramics.
You're always told if you have a passion for what you're making, it will come out in your work. But
one article I read said, if you want to sell your pots, buy fashion magazines, interior design magazines,
because you'll be way ahead of your peers on the trends that are happening and can change your
glaze and your style quite quickly to go with that. I find that a bit cold. I don't know if I could do that.
Fortunately, I've never had the pressure of supporting my family from my pots.
KW: Can you see you supporting yourself from your work?
AB: I would like to get it up to 50% of my income, but that would be an awful lot of pots. With the
nurSing, I feel I'm achieving a good balance at present. It's keeping me in the two worlds that I love.
38 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS JULY 2011