STURT POTTERY

Sturt Pottery holds a unique and significant place for the history of ceramic training in Australia. Many important figures in ceramics trained at Sturt during the years when there was not the wide range of training provided by Universities and TAFE colleges as today.   Sturt Pottery was established by Ivan McMeekin in 1953 with the clear vision of providing a teaching and production centre.

Ivan McMeekin was a significant figure for Australian ceramics. His research into Australian clay and glaze materials, which resulted in Notes for Australian Potters, is still the most exhaustive study of its kind available today. His six years at Sturt Pottery was an important catalyst for the development of Australian ceramics. He introduced the ideas of Bernard Leach and particularly Michael Cardew to Australia, with the emphasis on the use of local materials for small-scale studio production.

In 1959, Les Blakebrough followed Ivan McMeekin as manager of Sturt Pottery. The sixties was a fertile time for the growing ceramics movement both in Australia and overseas. Numerous international potters visited Sturt during this time ­ and as a result of meeting John Chapell, Blakebrough visited Japan for a year during 1962. The influence of Japan has been a constant source of inspiration for Australian potters, and particularly for those who work at Sturt. Several of the pottery's managers and students have worked and studied in Japan before or since coming to Sturt, including Paul Davis, Libby Pickard, Aaron Scythe as well as Les Blakebrough.

In 1964, Les was made Director of Sturt and built the three-chambered climbing kiln in the pottery. The main fuel for this kiln was oil although wood was used secondarily for side stoking. With Les Blakebrough's departure in 1972, wood firing lay dormant as oil and gas kilns were built at Sturt, under the directions of John Edye (1974-78), Paul Wynn (1978-80), Ian McKay (1982-86) and Campbell Hegan (1988-98).

For the past five years, Paul Davis has been Head of  Sturt Pottery, which hosts a combined program of ceramic courses, weekly classes in throwing and handbuilding and an Artist-in-Residence program. Paul also works prolifically exploring new forms and glaze effects to produce pieces which he exhibits regularly both in Australia and overseas. Paul Davis trained at RMIT University in Melbourne,and at Hagi in Japan where he worked with the esteemed Saka Koraizaemon Pottery. Using his extensive knowledge of glaze and clay technology, he creates pots of great presence which are sought after by collectors from all over the world and are available from Sturt Gallery.

Paul Davis 2007