Alex de Vos is a long-time member and teacher at Canberra Potters. After completing an Associate Diploma in Visual Arts in Ceramics at the Canberra School of Art in 1987, he started as a children’s teacher with the Canberra Potters Society in 1988. He has held various positions within the society since then. 

Alex has a strong interest in medieval history, which is reflected in his functional pottery and the forms and decorative techniques that he employs in his work. He uses sgraffito to decorate forms based on Byzantine pottery, although he uses ‘nontraditional’ stoneware clays for their strength, a result of working in Canada for a year. The other main technique that he uses is salt-firing where a glaze is formed by adding salt to a kiln at high (stoneware) temperatures. His liking for fantasy creatures is also reflected in the dragons and gargoyles that frequently form decorative or design elements of his work.  

Anna is a ceramic sculptor whose focus lies in the creation of anthropomorphic creatures that blur the boundaries of human, animal and machine. Her contemporary sculptures embody human characteristics, each with their own personality. They are cartoon-like, comical and playful. In 2015 she graduated from the ANU with a Bachelor of Visual Arts in Ceramics and in 2016 was awarded a residency with Canberra Potters and started working with us shortly after.

Dr Cathy Franzi is a full-time ceramic artist who explores ways to represent Australian flora and the environments they inhabit. 

Cathy was awarded a Doctorate of Visual Arts (Ceramics) from the Australian National University School of Art in 2015. Through her ceramic practice she explores ways to represent Australian flora and the environments they inhabit. Cathy brings a depth and breadth of ceramic experience to her teaching. She has worked with potters in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand, been a production thrower for large potteries, and participated in conferences and workshops in most ceramic genres. Her aim is to share her fascination with the wealth of cultural and historical ideas that ceramics contain. 

Cathy Franzi’s work is held in public collections, including Canberra Museum and Gallery, Parliament House Art Collection and Manly Art Gallery and Museum. In 2013, a work from her solo exhibition ‘Painting the Hills of Canberra’ was included in the Canberra Centenary Time Capsule. She has been the recipient of a number of awards and undertaken many artist residencies. 

Visit Cathy’s website

Chris Harford is a full-time ceramic artist, known for his refined tableware and teapots, and has been a professional potter for nearly 35 years. High-fired stoneware and porcelain functional work has always been a major focus of his practice. Currently he designs and makes contemporary tableware for a number of prestigious Canberra restaurants, dinner sets for private clients, commissions and pieces for exhibition. 

Chris’ expertise has been largely self-taught, supplemented by traineeships, attending masterclasses, undertaking courses and creating and embracing a wide range of opportunities. In his early career he undertook three months of formal training under the tutelage of master potter Paul Fisher in New Zealand, after which he was offered a part-time teaching position in ceramics at the Aoraki Polytechnic in Timaru. Harford moved back to his hometown of Adelaide upon being successful in his application for a nine-month studio traineeship at the Jam Factory followed by eighteen months as a tenant. During this time Harford studied Clay and Glaze Chemistry and Kiln Design at the Underdale College of Advanced Education. 

Four years overseas followed, incorporating three months studio work in England and re-establishing a pottery with his wife in Ireland, training locals and using native dug clay. On returning to Australia in 1996, Chris established Spinning Gum Pottery in Canberra and took a part-time position at the Canberra Potters Society as Workshop Manager, a position he held until 2017. In this role and as a studio holder, Chris assisted countless students, amateurs and professionals in technical and other particularities of the ceramic process. He is sought after for his kiln and wheel maintenance knowledge. Harford has mentored and taught many up and coming local tableware makers. He now works from a studio at his home and continues to teach and run workshops both in Canberra and interstate.

Chris uses a range of techniques to explore his design ideas with the majority of the work being hand thrown on the wheel. The ware is high-fired to 1300C in either gas or electric kilns. Traditional glazes such as Tenmoku, Chun and Celadon are often a feature of his work, however he continues to add to his palette through continual exploration. 

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Elena combines her background in visual arts and graphic design with her passion for clay, creating work that values detail, purpose, and exploration. She is currently studying interior design and is still on her journey to finding her own artistic style, embracing experimentation and discovery as the most rewarding part of her practice.

She mainly teaches introduction to clay classes and workshops with children, where she enjoys guiding students through the first steps of working with clay and encouraging them to explore, play, and develop their own creative language. With a supportive and open approach, Elena fosters a space where learning and creativity can flourish

Erin Kocaj makes both functional and non-functional ceramics with linear patterns and references to nature. 

Erin was first involved with Canberra Potters in her school years, taking classes during college with the aim of getting into art school. After graduating with Honours in Ceramics from the ANU School of Art in 2011, she joined the Canberra Potters teaching staff in 2016. During this time, she also initiated ‘Claybodies’- a group of local ceramic artists who support, showcase and celebrate ceramics in the community through discussion groups, exhibitions and workshops. 

As an artist she likes to make highly patterned objects, both functional and non-functional. Her works are recognisable by their linear pattern and references to nature that she employs. The quality of the linear pattern can be organic or constructed; often she places the two alongside each other in a contrastive display of balance and tension. 

Fran Romana is a ceramic artist and trained social worker who brings a unique perspective to her teaching and student-centred approach. 

With a background in community-work around Canberra, Fran has always had a passion for clay. Since indulging that passion more fully and enrolling at ANU School of Art in 2011, Fran has made clay central to her life.  In her own art practice she explores ideas of decay, memory and nostalgia through use of layering and surface decoration as well as mixed-media installations. Her production arm, FRATTEMPO, embraces one-off decorative homewares and vessels embracing the same themes. 

As a trained social worker, Fran brings a unique perspective to her teaching and a student-centred approach.  She feels that the process is just as important as the outcome and aims to make her classes inclusive and friendly. 

Currently teaching children’s classes at the Canberra Potters, she looks forward to taking her own adult’s classes in the future.

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Georgie Bryant combines beauty and function in her wheel thrown tableware and has a passion for sharing her pottery skills with others. 

Georgie has been teaching at Canberra Potters since 2014. She has a Masters of Teaching and a passion for sharing her skills and knowledge with others. Georgie enjoys teaching introductory classes, which she loves for the fun, discovery and enjoyment that comes with introducing students to working with clay. She teachers regular wheel throwing classes at Canberra Potters, where she works to develop her students’ technique and help them reach their goals. 

In her own practice as Linburn Handmade, she combines beauty and function in her wheel thrown tableware. Linburn Handmade is used by numerous restaurants and cafes in Canberra and Sydney as well as by individuals for home use. Georgie is ever keen to experiment with new techniques and to keep learning! 

Jackie is a ceramic sculptor who is passionate about making life-size animal characters. An artist in her own right Jackie hand-builds her forms – not using props or armatures but working with the clay as it slowly firms and dries. She uses layers of oxides and coloured engobes to accentuate surface textures and marks to enhance her forms. The firing techniques Jackie uses make her sculptures strong and durable. Like many people she loves to relate to dogs. They have simple honest emotions and live in the moment. They come in all shapes, sizes and characters and have been an endless source of inspiration for her ceramic sculptures, lately joined by roosters and hens.

Joey Burns is a practicing potter and teacher who makes functional and non-functional work and has a passion for wood-firing.

Joey is based near Gundaroo, New South Wales. He first trained in a production factory making pottery before deciding to study, receiving his Diploma Of Ceramics from Northern Beaches TAFE Sydney. After working as a ceramics technical assistant at the Ernabella Art Centre in outback South Australia, he now works from his home studio making functional pottery. Joey has been an assistant teacher for Canberra Potters’ children’s classes since early 2020.

The works Joey makes are simple reflections of his surroundings, whether it be influences taken from the people and cityscapes of the cities he has lived in, places he’s visited, or landscapes from the rural area he grew up and now lives in. He tries to incorporate a sense of character and personality into his pieces, which he gathers from interactions with people, animals and architecture.

The malleable nature of clay allows Joey to spontaneously create abstracted gestures of these visual, tactile and aural influences. He fires his work in wood burning kilns in order to achieve a non-contrived reference to the colours and surface textures from the original inspiration behind the forms.

Josephine Townsend 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). 

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Lia Tajcnar has degrees in painting and ceramics and loves to combine colour, pattern and imagery with tactile textured form in her ceramics practice. She is ever curious and experiments with techniques gleaned from other mediums to tap in to the vast range of creative possibilities inherent in ceramics. Lia’s teaching philosophy is to support students in developing their own vision thought experimenting, testing and playing and critically evaluating their work with creative enquiry. 

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Mark Saunders 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.

Maryke Henderson 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.  

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

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

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.