The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 52 No 1 April 2013
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Chester gives firing partner Susie McMeekin instructions for the next shift, 2006; photo: Ge<strong>of</strong>f Amble<br />
Chester Nealie Woodfire Potter<br />
A world <strong>of</strong> his making by Jan Irvine-Nealie<br />
Something drives Chester Nealie in his pu rsuit <strong>of</strong> ceramic excellence - drives with singular focus and<br />
determination through months <strong>of</strong> making pots, the rigours <strong>of</strong> preparing tonnes <strong>of</strong> wood and the long<br />
hours <strong>of</strong> firing to bring his pots through the metamorphosis he has chosen for them.<br />
This drive underpins his achievement as a woodfire potter and explains his dedication to the aesthetic<br />
he pursues in his work - the aesthetic that both rewards and fuels his ongoing practice.<br />
Watching Nealie at work - adjusting wheelthrown pots or unloading his kiln post-firing - it's clear<br />
that he has an instinct for what he wants and doesn't want, whilst remaining mindful <strong>of</strong> what he might<br />
come to understand. This forms a direction from and for his work and comes from the accumulation<br />
over years <strong>of</strong> preference, experience and response to results.<br />
Embedded in this awareness is his working knowledge <strong>of</strong> chemistry, <strong>of</strong> cause and effect and <strong>of</strong><br />
interrelatedness during process, understood through a knowledge <strong>of</strong> physics. <strong>The</strong>se science disciplines<br />
have informed his experimental and spontaneous approach to making and firing from the beginning,<br />
allowing him to analyse, interpret and plough that understanding back into his practice.<br />
50 THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS APRil <strong>2013</strong>
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