My love affair with clay began when I was a child, moulding clay from building site earthworks. Then when my mother brought home small but perfectly formed pottery creations from her night classes I was amazed at the plastic clay turned to stone-like ceramic. Since then, although I've dabbled in painting, writing, and other dark arts, clay draws me back to its cool embrace every time - I love its smell, its malleability, its strength, and its infinite variety.
After being self-taught for many years, I enrolled
with the Australian National University in 2001 where, after 4 years study, I
earned my Diploma of Art (Ceramics).
My work is inspired by the forms, patterns, and textures of nature, and by artifacts of past and current civilizations.
Fired clay is one of the most enduring relics of human habitation and creativity, and I enjoy knowing that my work becomes part of this continuum.
Heather Bell, 2010
