• My Resume

• An article published in
  'The Land' about my work

• About My Pottery

ALL CERAMIC DESIGNS
copyright ©
Emily Laszuk 2003
email: laszuk@harboursat.com.au

By MELISSA LANG (as printed in The Land Magazine)

By Emily Stackman's own admission, there's never a good place to be when your in the middle of a drought.

But on her family's 3000 acre woolgrowing property "Miranee" at Lewis Ponds, via Orange, Emily has a place where she can periodically "zone out" from the surrounding dry.

In the light-filled shed Emily uses as her pottery studio, she spends more than 20 hours a week creating her whimsical, yet practical and very useable works of art.

With her wheel overlooking the shearing shed and the radio tuned to the dulcet tones of the ABC, Emily escapes into her own space.

It's a formula that works well and sees her producing some 3000 pottery pieces a year which she sells throughout Australia.

Since the 1980s, Emily has been a professional ceramic artist, and today, she is well-known for her signature blue and white pieces, which range from mugs, jugs, teapots and sugar bowls, through to plates, bowls, vases, and pie dishes, depicting a vast array of farm and native animals.

Just this year, Emily added to her repertoire of works, and has released her first line of coloured pieces.

Every facet of Emily's pieces are her own work - her pottery is thrown with fine cream stoneware clay and hand painted with her rich brushstrokes.

It's a job Emily loves, but which has also proved an invaluable source of off-farm income for her family when the perils of life on the land, including wool price crashes and drought have reared their collectively unforgiving heads.

Emily and her husband, Mark, had 100 acres at Millthorpe before they before they moved to "Miranee", where they are now raising their children, Sarah, nine, and Sam, seven, and run a flock of Merinos producing 17-micron wool.

"The wool market crashed just after we moved here 13 years ago, and suddenly we had to make a living out of my pottery," Emily said.

"I was teaching nights at Bathurst TAFE and I was full-time at Blayney High School before I left to have Sarah. Sarah was 10-days-old when I started potting again.

"But I found that teaching really sharpened my skills. When you're an art teacher, you're expected to be able to paint, draw and pot. So I had to suddenly learn how to draw really well."

"We bought the farm and did our figures and we worked out that the Reserve Price Scheme at the time made it worthwhile," Mark said.

"As we all know, the Reserve Price Scheme crashed. There's no way we could have kept going if it wasn't for Emily."

The flexibility of combining her pottery with life on the property is particularly satisfying for Emily - put simply, when the shearing starts, the potting stops.

Emily initially had planned on being a sculptor when she started studying at the Sydney College of the Arts in the early 1980s.

After graduating and working in Sydney, Emily and Mark moved to the Central Coast where Mark's family had a property, before they made the move west.

Today, some 40 galleries throughout NSW and Australia stock Emily's works, with the demand for her pieces seeing Emily use more than one tonne of clay a year to fill orders.

One of the highlights of her career so far has been receivng a $12,000 export order in 2000 from the Far Eastern Stores in Taiwan.

Her works have also won various awards, including a First and Special prize at the 2001 Sydney Royal Show, following from a First, Second, and Highly Commended at the 1998 Sydney Royal.

For Emily, capturing the essence of a particular animal is what she loves about her work, and the family's menagerie of animals at "Miranee" provides the perfect inspiration.

The haughtiness of a rooster, the smugness of a cat, or the regal stance of a ram, are captured in Emily's pieces, as are the curiosities of a host of other animals including cows, ducks, pigs, rabbits, frogs, echidnas, chooks, koalas, pelicans and striped possums.

"I know that's a cliche, but nature is so incredibly beautiful," Emily said.

"The kids are real naturists and Sam has a particular passion for pigs.

"There's a sensualness in life and art. I like good food and cooking, and eating good food on beautiful plates and pots. "Nice pottery should be part of a rich and sensual life.

"I feel sad if people buy my pots and don't use them, because their made to be lovely, yet functional."

In addition to her regular array of works, Emily also does commissions.

As a result of growing up in such an artistic environment, Sarah and Sam have both demonstrated their own creative abilities. Both have their own potting wheels, and have pieces for sale in various outlets alongside their mum.

Emily is also very involved with the artistic community of the Central West, and is secretary of the Bathurst Potters Group.

All of her works bear the mark of Craftmark Australia Accreditation - a mark of excellence in Australian craft which identifies and promotes the sale of quality Australian craft.

Craftmark accreditation is awarded to professional craft practitioners and retail outlets, and lets consumers know the artist consistently produces high quality work.

"Each piece is signed and has a history attached to it. When you sell your work, you're selling yourself and your lifestyle as much as your pottery - my work really is made with love," Emily said.

"You'll never get rich farming or potting, but I love them both just the same."

Galleries in country NSW and the ACT which stock Emily's works include Orange Visitors Centre; Stokers Siding, near Murwillumbah; Bumble Hill Studio, Kulnura; Lantern Gallery, Nundle; Gallery J, Bowral; Allambie Motel, Condobolin; Gallery Koolabah, Canowindra; Anthony the Florist, Condobolin; Bilyara Arts and Crafts, Bega; Cowra Visitors Gallery; Bathurst Art Gallery; Cuppacumbalong, Canberra; Breewood, Leura; Heritage Gallery, Nelson Bay; and Crisp Gallery, Bowning.

Contact Emily Stackman, "Miranee", Lewis Ponds, email: laszuk@harboursat.com.au