Text and images by Leni Alexander
Listen up! Have you been to Clay Gulgong before? If you haven’t this is one not to be missed, it is coming back in 2028. Lets chat about it.
It was my first time attending along with Sophie Alexander aka @Theemastoner_, we travelled 6 hours through coal mines, beautiful landscapes, and scenery when we descended on the small town of Gulgong, home of Iconic Australian Ceramicist Janet Mansfield.
The check in process was fairly easy, it was simply a matter of signing off your name and then you were given your backpack with the program, delegates lanyard and then off to select a cup made by the crew at the Ceramics Study Group. This was the time to get your merch, clarify and confirm what was happening for the week and then off we went!
There were 2 main areas, Master demo area (up the hill) and presentation area (down the hill) and then what I called specialty events such as the Throw Down Under with Celebrity Potter Keith Brymer Jones, exhibitions at the 2 museums, Delegates market, shop window exhibitions, pub crawl, The Matchbox show as well as morning meditation with Sisonke Papu and Andie Dyalvane from South Africa.
The program was packed, 7 days of full on ceramics, an absolute feast, something for everyone regardless of what your interest was there was something for you, whether it was throwing, hand building, casting, micro ceramics, kiln tech, how to change grommets for your wheel, supplier info stations and the fire sale of old merch, and ceramics magazines (of course I got some!!). It was this time I discovered our very own John Tuckwell featured interviewing Tammy from Pipers Creek Pottery in the April 2018 edition with Keith Brymer Jones Mugs of Love on the front cover! You all know I love finding things like this.
As we settled in, I found myself bouncing between the demos and The Matchbox show (images above of Coastal Claymakers’ members in the Matchbox show). I was intrigued with different approaches to slip casting and found myself glued to Ruby Pilvin and Moncia Patuszynska both extremely talented in their field. They shared their practice openly generously providing knowledge and skills that I definitely would love to try in the future.
Yannick Fourbet, a French potter living in NZ conducted a community building of mega pots on his mega banding wheel and mega ribs. People were literally throwing clay on the form and then running it through the rib to create the shape. It definitely was a wow feature.
Eric Landon aka Tortus put on performances everyday showing us how he transforms pots into bowls, and then back to big pots. A real treat to see this live, and when you see it, if confirms that the videos you see on Instagram are NOT AI, it’s the real deal!
Between bouncing from demo to demo, supplier info stations, museum exhibitions, and Delegates market, I was really interested in The Matchbox Show, a community ceramics exhibition that showcases over 800 potters work in matchboxes. I popped in most days looking for artists and creatives I knew and also getting excited about potentially submitting my own and encouraging others to do the same. I was inspired by the idea, a way for artist and creatives to be a part of an exhibition all together with no barriers to briefs other than fitting in a matchbox.
The Throw Down Under held at the “Cenny” pub was a great way to end the day, to come together with newly made friends, where we could relax, enjoy, and debrief our experience that day, often finding inspiration for new things to see the following day, and then if you had more in ya, you could do another presentation, but I’m afraid, I was pooped by 5pm.
Day 3 and I caught the bloody lurgy, but I charged on thanks to Codeine, Panadol, Strepsils, Otrivin and a face mask, so it is a gentle reminder to pack those if you are coming in 2028 JUST IN CASE.
The final day of Clay Gulgong was a picnic day at Morning View, Janet Mansfield’s property approximately 30 mins from Gulgong up a few dirt roads through scenic view drive. It’s wild to imagine back in the day that Clay Gulgong was primarily held on this property and it was described as the Woodstock of Ceramics with caravans and tents camped up for the week. It really felt magical learning that I was in space stepped back in time that created this amazing community we have here with Ceramics.
It was here we experience Janet’s life as a potter, where she worked, her library, gallery rooms with private ceramics collection, outdoor kitchen and lots of ceramics installations on the property. The huge kiln area with trolley kilns that are so big you could stand in them, anagama kiln, gas kiln and bourry boxes still in use today through the residency programs.
It was also the unveiling of a huge sculpture made by Dale Miles, a sculpture that will be fired in-situ and remain on site. It was pretty exciting to see and experience such a huge construction built over the week. I’m excited to see it when I return in 2028.
On conclusion, this has been one of the best experiences ever, the community, the fellowship, the learning and comradery between Masters and Delegates was heartwarming. The festival really does live up to the reputation of experiencing the ‘Gulgong Glow’. I really felt it even though I missed out on a lot with so much on, you really must be physically fit to do it all.
The crew at Mansfield ceramics did a great job, constantly on their feet making sure everything was smooth going, even making consideration around women’s needs, health and safety information easily accessible and there always was a chair for tired feet.
If you wanted to see what went on in detail, here is a link to my poorly scanned program but you get the gist. Program for Gulgong 2026
I cannot wait for 2028, who’s coming?