Sue is the Education Program Manager for Canberra Potters, bringing a wealth of experience as a school teacher and practicing ceramic artist to this role. She loves teaching the occasional course but her main role is in supporting the excellent teachers at Canberra Potters and growing the range and quality of the courses on offer. Sue has extensive experience in working with children, adults and people with disabilities to her classes.

In her ceramic practice Sue uses both wheel throwing and hand building techniques to explore ceramic forms as a means of human connection through daily ritual and interaction. She is interested in the cultural meaning we attach to the ceramic vessels we use in everyday life.

Sue enjoys sharing her love of clay with students and helping them explore the many ways clay can be used to create both functional ware and sculptural forms.

View Sue’s Instagram here. 

Paul makes both sculptural and functional work and has been assisting classes at Canberra Potters for over 10 years. 

Paul Dumetz started working as technical assistant at Canberra Potters in 2006, and began assisting in pottery classes at Canberra Potters in 2009. He studied at the ANU School of Art from 2001-2006, completing a Bachelor of Arts and Graduate Diploma of Arts in ceramics. 

Paul makes both sculptural and functional work, enjoying the variation that each stream of practice can give him. His sculptural work reflects a keen interest and fascination with animals and their significance in their ecosystems. His aim is to capture the beauty, character, strength, purity, and emotion of these creatures. 

View Paul’s Instagram here.

Maryke is a practicing ceramic artist, potter and arts educator with over 38 years of experience. 

Maryke loves to teach and share the knowledge that she has gained over the years of exploring clay with her students. Before moving to Canberra in 2002 to complete a Bachelor of Arts (Visual) degree with Honours, she taught ceramics at the New England Institute of TAFE (Tamworth Campus), during which time she attended many workshops, conferences and courses around the state to improve her skills and knowledge. 

As well as her passion for pottery, Maryke’s love for preparing tasty meals for friends and family compliments her practice. Form and function are an intrinsic part in her design process, and the pots that she uses to present the food enhance the pleasure of sitting around the table sharing both food and conversation.  

Maryke joined the teaching team at Canberra Potters in 2003, during which time she has worked with both children and adults in term classes and teaching short courses.  

View Maryke’s Instagram here. 

Mark first started making ceramics as a high school student when his art teacher introduced the class to the pottery wheel. Intrigued by the possibilities of working with clay he enrolled in a TAFE course to study ceramics. Afterwards he went on to study further and hone his skills as a hobby for the next 15 years until he eventually graduated from the Australian National University with a Bachelor of Visual Art, majoring in ceramics. 

In the years since graduating university he has developed his own art practice while also working in the ceramics education industry, including teaching workshops and various classes. With over 20 years of experience making ceramics Mark has gained a diverse skill set, specialising in slipcasting. plaster mould making, throwing and midfire glazes.

 You can find Mark on Instagram here.

Katrina is passionate about wheel-throwing, through which she makes refined functional ware and organic sculptural works. 

Katrina Leske has been part of the Canberra Potters team since 2017. Throughout her studies and since graduating from the ANU School of Art and Design with Honours in 2018, she has been an active member of the regional ceramic community. Currently working as a teacher and the Gallery Manager at Canberra Potters, she is thrilled to be able to introduce more people to the wonderful world of clay through both of these roles. 

Katrina is passionate about wheel-throwing, and explores bodily process and movement in both her functional and sculptural works. She is drawn to the self-contained beauty and simplicity of the circular forms and is interested in how physical processes can affect an understanding of the handmade ceramic vessel. The desire to engage in a lived, bodily experience is her primary concern: ceramics is an innately tactile medium, and it is this materiality which draws her to working with clay. 

Katrina finds great satisfaction in her practice and teaching, and loves the versatility that clay offers. 

View Katrina’s website here, her Facebook here and her Instagram here.

Josephine brings a wealth of experience as a high school teacher and practicing ceramic artist to her role as a teacher at Canberra Potters. 

Jo enjoys the endless variety that clay as a medium provides. Her functional work is inspired by the colours and textures of nature and is designed to fit the hands and feel lovely as well as to be strong and practical (e.g. dishwasher safe). 

View Jo’s website here and her Instagram here.