Gabrielle Powell
I am a passionate teacher, ceramicist, and basket maker, specialising in community arts. Actually, I have always been a maker of things - from a family of makers. My big plan was to get a car and take off around Australia, but I had a serious car accident, so I decided to start art school with a major in ceramics.
I have 40 years of experience in pottery, graduating from the Canberra School of Art with a BA in Visual Art in the mid-1980s. I launched straight into clay with an arts residency at the Meat Market Craft Centre in Melbourne, taught pottery in isolated Aboriginal communities throughout Australia, and painted a 2,000 ceramic tile planetary mural at Giralang Primary School in Canberra.
I was keen to establish my studio, so I moved to the South Coast with Daniel, my partner and Bandicoot Pottery was born. We worked together in partnership for many years - Daniel throwing pots, and I was the decorator. We settled into life on the coast while building a mud-brick house and having kids. My parents encouraged me to complete a Graduate Diploma of Teaching, which would provide a stable income so I did!
I am an active member of the Spiral Gallery Arts Cooperative and the Lazy Lizard Gallery, where I create simple, geometric-patterned wares for exhibitions. My work is inspired by my travels to various cultures around the world, including Australia, New Zealand, Africa, the USA, and Asia.
I create strong baskets from recycled materials, as it helps conserve and reduce waste of important raw materials such as cable, wire, and fruit and vegetable bags to produce natural shapes. The creation of decorative elements is a component of my storytelling process, where I sew together layers of colours and materials to construct a visual narrative.
I believe that functional pottery should enhance the beauty of your everyday rituals, be enjoyable to use, and foster the joy of sharing meals with loved ones. The foundation of my work is built on relationships, connections, imagery, and the dialogue between the past and the present.
I make simple moulded and hand-built forms from earthenware clay as a blank canvas for my brightly coloured, funky designs. I enjoy the playful nature of hand-building - making organic forms to decorate. My creative process enables me to produce forms that are folky, made to be decorated, and enjoyable to hold. Experimental decorative techniques are part of a flourishing narrative process for me. My inspiration comes from making vibrant geometric and floral messages. Some are plain, others intricate, colourful patterns printed and painted. I create dense and delicate sections in my bowls, striving to make the patterns resemble a piece of fabric or perhaps just strolling through an enchanting garden. I produce distinctive surface textures on terracotta, white base or coloured layers, sgraffito technique, and printing.
I studied for a Diploma in Community Welfare and ensured that my employment included community arts projects and events. Some of these experiences include the People of the Sun Internship in Malawi, Africa; the SE Arts Health project; the Painted Poles project in Cobargo; and tutoring youth as part of the DisARTster recovery project.
Our studio has been rebuilt after its loss in the 2019 Black Summer Bushfires in Cobargo. In our new space, I am offering creative inspiration to children, young people, and adults through pottery classes and basketry workshops.
My works can be found at Artessence Gallery in Pambula, Spiral Gallery in Bega, Lazy Lizard in Cobargo, and Drift Homewares in Bermagui.
Gabrielle Powell 2025
