The Journal of Australian Ceramics Vol 53 No 2 July 2014

Focus: Emerging
for it, in my experience, is good, constructive
criticism from people you respect, not just a
"That's amazing!" from friends. It's important
to seek out a good mentor and ask for critique.
If you don't get your work out there it's easy to
end up making no work at all, and the lack of
confidence just gets worse.
It's a constant battle to establish a routine, yet
it is crucial to your practice, so try to find a job
with regular days and hours if you can.
A network or community of like-minded
artists is important It sometimes/often feels like
everybody else thinks you're crazy, and it's very
hard to be crazy on your own!!
Merran Esson, Pod Stacks 1 & 2, 2014
Always just work, even when you're not
feeling inspired; it's the only way to get to the
better stuff. You can (and should) judge or
analyse the work afterwards, but not before
or during the making. It's the crucial steppingstone,
but you don't have to keep it; discard the
uninspired later. Tchaikovsky said, "We must be
patient, and believe that inspiration will come to
those who can master their disinclination."
www.taniarollond.com.au
MERRAN ESSON
Being an artist is not so much a calling, rather it's
something that develops over time, and then one
day you realise that you are an artist. You are
living the life, but it's tough. Leaving college and
emerging onto the art scene is full of pitfalls and
speed bumps, but you are lucky as the ceramics
world is full of conferences and festivals that
you can, and should, attend. Start networking
with others in the same situation. Form a
collective or rent a shared studio space. Share
the cost of a kiln (or two). Build a kiln. Ceramics
has always had a community atmosphere, so
sharing facilities as you begin your professional
life is a good idea. If you want this to be your
profession, don't make excuses about it being
too hard or too expensive to set up. I am renting
a studio space from Claypool in Sydney and I am
fascinated to watch this business grow and
expand. It's a great launching pad for recent
graduates. The costs might be less than your
current institutional fees. Also look around at
gaps in the market for something that you can
provide. It will pay your rent and assist you to
improve your skills. Submit applications for group
and award exhibitions; you may not always be
selected, but it's a necessary process that we
have all gone through. TAKE GOOD IMAGES! It's
how the world sees what you do online.
http://merranesson.com
SUSIE MCMEEKIN
Firstly let me say that I was lucky to have a
surname that helped to open doors for me but I
still had to produce work to a quality that would
sell in the galleries I approached.
I didn't have my first solo exhibition until I was
43, and I had been potting since I was 24. My
father Ivan McMeekin would not have a joint
show with me because he felt that il we showed
together, when he died, interest would wane in
my work and the prices I was getting would I all.
So I was on my own on that Iront
I had always had Christmas sales at home and
sold to shops in the suburbs. After his death
THE JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIAN CERAMICS IULY 2014
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