Project Description

Welcome to my Pozible Site. My aim is to raise $5 000 within 40 days to fund my on-going project of teaching pottery and clay art to an Aranda Aboriginal community in the centre of Australia.

 

Hello, I’m Su Brown, from Tallebudgera Valley in the Gold Coast Hinterland. I am a semi- retired studio ceramist with over 30 years experience teaching and creating clay art through wheel throwing, hand building and clay sculpture. My works have won awards and been widely exhibited over the years. I am a very experienced teacher and mentor to adults and children, using a successful blend of technical knowledge with hands on demonstrations to help students learn, and to express themselves through the wonderful medium of clay.

In 2011, I began a studio ceramic program for the Aboriginal people at Wallace Rockhole, a small Aranda community, 120 kilometres west of Alice Springs, Northern Territory. I returned last year, 2012, and stayed for four months working once again each day in the pottery. These two long visits gave me time to introduce the community to a solid basic level of clay construction, decorating, glazing and firing the kiln.

 

2013 Project Details

 

This year, 2013, I am going back to Wallace Rockhole for year three of my original three year plan. I am staying at the community for three months to teach in the pottery studio to advance the potters’ techniques to a higher level. One plan is to introduce the young ladies to making ceramic jewellery, but still the main plan is for the potters to be more proficient and confident with their individual styles, techniques and technical ability. We will continue to explore with texture, construction, decorating and fired finishes. I will also continue teaching the community how to manage the studio including making up glazes, packing and firing the electric kilns. My aim is to instill enough confidence for each potter to be able to start and finish clay art projects independently.

 

The Wallace Rockhole Primary School will be invited to participate in the pottery again, the whole school doing pottery one day each week.  The pottery is also open to the children to pop in and create anytime outside school hours. Outside of school hours the children have no organised activities, having the studio open can fill a void in their young lives giving them a sense of pride and achievement.   What fun!  Never a problem, always polite with big smiles, the children proudly show off their work to everyone.

The studio is open, each day, free of charge to anyone who is interested in having a go at working with clay. Each day new faces appear and once people feel the softness of the clay, they disappear into a quiet, gentle focus on their work. The community members, no matter their age or gender, show a natural affinity and ability for working with the clay. The delights they experience through their personal achievements make me realize that this is a very worthwhile project to continue.

 

  The Outcome

 

Successful delivery of my project will ensure the potters are inspired, creative, self-sufficient and confident with their own skills. The potters make beautiful pots that are not only delightful in their finished state, but also give great joy when raw in the hands of the artist. They gain respect for the medium and pride in their own ability.

 

The community potters do hand building, sculpting and wheel throwing. By treating each potter as an individual, their own style starts to emerge. We have very positive outcomes with beautiful pots being made, admired and some sold through the Art Centre at Wallace Rockhole.

I now know that with two years experience in this studio that my dreams and hopes for the outcome of this project needs to be fluid, like unfired clay, raw, wet and soft. Will we achieve a long term outcome of a cottage industry or will this project end up being a first attempt at having a hobby, just making pots because it feels good? My aim is to simply be in the now, no great expectations, good pots created by good folk in a great place (and being prepared for the possibilty that I may have taken on a life long project).

 

The Wallace Rockhole studio already has some equipment but it needs your financial support, however small or large to help us to continue to maintain the equipment, have good brushes, ware boards, tools, under glaze colours, glaze materials and to pay for electricity for kiln firings as and when needed.

For me to continue with this project, I need some financial support as I have limited personal funds. I need assistance with the running costs of my car and caravan as I tow my caravan from my home in south east Queensland to the Northern Territory and also back home again. My small caravan becomes my home for my stay at Wallace Rockhole as I camp in the campground free of charge.

I ask for no remuneration from the community at Wallace Rockhole for my skills as a pottery teacher. What I have to offer, I give freely.

 

The Story so Far

 

This project came about after I discovered Wallace Rockhole on a trip to Central Australia in 2010. I learned that a slip casting venture had been set up many years previous for the Aboriginal community, but that unfortunately due to the delicate nature of the method of the work (most of it was damaged beyond repair during the decorating stage), failed, and that since then the equipment had been sitting unused. I discovered they had three electric kilns of varying sizes and two pottery wheels that had never been used because no one had taught the people how to use them. I suggested to the community that I would be interested in coming back to set up their studio and teach them pottery and how to utilize the equipment. They were very keen for me to do this and so I returned in 2011 and again in 2012 and re-established the studio successfully.

Having taught ceramics for such a long time I understand how long it takes to fully master the skills required to not only make a pot, but to cover the technical aspects of ceramics. So I set myself the longer term goal of returning to Wallace Rockhole over the next three years to ensure the community will have the skills, knowledge and confidence to continue operating the studio and even exhibit and sell their artwork.

 

 

Wallace Rockhole:

 

During a journey through the Australian outback with an artist friend Lindy Davidson in 2010, we stayed at the Aranda Aboriginal community at Wallace Rockhole in their campground.

Wallace Rockhole was originally part of the Lutheran Mission at Hermannsburg which ran a large cattle station to support the mission and the Aboriginals, in 1983 the station was divided into five blocks and handed back to the Aranda people. Wallace Rockhole is on the Urana Land Trust twenty-five kilometres along the James Range and in 1973 was founded by the Abbott family as an outstation to the mission.

This clean and tidy community delighted us. Glenys [nee Abbott] and husband Ken Porter run the campground and Art Centre. Glenys is the Elder of this community and a very talented painter, as are many folk in the community, Ken is a master of all trades, extremely busy and full of energy, tirelessly working for the benefit of all.

Wandering through their Art Centre I came across three electric kilns of varying sizes, all wired up, a potter’s dream, but with no pots anywhere, I had to hear this story. Many years ago a slip casting venture had been set up with the frustrating result that most of their work was just too delicate for that environment and was damaged beyond repair in the decorating stage. They also had two pottery wheels that had never been used as they had no one to teach them throwing. I suggested to them that I would be interested in coming back in 2011 to set up their studio and teach them how to utilize this equipment. After further discussion via email a plan was formed.

After arriving home I went into action. Knowing the vast technical side of ceramics I planned a three year project to make sure the potters would be taught all the skills needed to follow the project to a fruitful outcome. Which equipment and what materials would be needed to set up the studio? The lists were endless. When purchasing tools, equipment and materials and upon seeing my own limited funds dwindling at a rapid rate, I hounded my friends and associates to donate.

In June 2011, with the car and caravan loaded to the hilt, Lindy and I, set off once again to the Red Centre. Lindy could only spare a short time away from home, whereas I had planned to be at the community for three months. We arrived at Wallace Rockhole to see big changes in the community. Their Supermarket had been closed and part of the Art Centre opened as a small goods store to supply the basic needs for the community.

I decided to set the studio up in the old Supermarket delivery dock as the roller door opened beside the Art Centre’s door and a rear door opened onto the kiln area. As soon as we set up and opened the roller door, we were inundated with eager future potters, of all ages and genders, keen to have a go.

With clay, laughter and pots going everywhere, “Studio Ceramics at Wallace Rockhole” was born.

 

How Pozible Works

 

In 2012 I ran a successful project "Studio Ceramics at Wallace Rockhole" on Pozible to help finance my 2012 campaign. The project was a great success and the support given by the contributors of not only their hard earned dollars but heartfelt and genuine interest was wonderful.

 

Pozible is a new way to fund creative and worthwhile endevours as it is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method. Projects must be fully funded or no money changes hands. If the target of $5 000 is not reached your pledge is cancelled, your card is not billed, it’s as if nothing at all has happened. In other words, if I don’t raise my goal of $5 000, I cannot collect the pledged funds.

 

Rewards for You

 

Pozible likes to offer rewards to its supporters, this I like to look on as a thankyou to you my projects supporter.

As a thank you to all of my supporters I will email a fortnightly newsletter of what’s happening at Wallace Rockhole, the fun, bizarre, good, bad, quiet, and noisy plus the local gossip. 

 

Plus according to the amount you have pledged a small thankyou gift is offered in return.  I am sorry to say but postal charges limit this to Australia, if you live overseas you may like to nominate an Australian address and I can post it there on your behalf. 

Please include your email and postal address when offering your pledge and also if ticking a rewards box.   Pozible is a very safe hazard free web site.

 

A fifth of the funds raised through my 2012 Pozible project was spent on costs for the 2012 rewards, this year I have tried to cut that cost back as I believe that these are a thankyou gift for your generosity not a purchase.

Some of the rewards have input from Wallace Rockhole potters and some have been created by me, Su Brown.  The rewards are a gift, not a purchase.   Please accept what has been sent to you with good faith and good cheer, a lot of thought and time has been spent on this part of the project. 

 

I would love to spread the word of this project further,

please contact me directly via email for presentations or articles.

 

[email protected]                    www.pozible.com

 

“Pottery at Wallace Rockhole, NT” is listed in the Crafts category on the Pozible web site.