Visiting Australia's Potters
Trips to the Robert Gordon potbank and to Sam Gordon's studio
After visiting factories in China, Keith and Marj are currently in Australia. They’ve had a chance to visit Robert Gordon Pottery. The Gordon family have been designing and making pottery since 1945. Robert Gordon’s mother June Dyson was a renowned potter with her own studio. Learning from her, Robert opened his own studio in the 1970s, Pack Track Pottery. Pack Track has evolved into Robert Gordon Pottery, a well-known brand in Australia (“Equivalent to Portmeirion in the UK”, Keith explains).
"Entering the Robert Gordon Pottery in Pakenham is a culmination of a studio ceramic aesthetic coupled with mass production. This all stems from Robert Gordon who really expanded the whole enterprise, which then got taken on by his capable offspring. Two of them (Bobby and Hannah) showed me and Marj round the factory . What I really like about the way the factory/pottery was played out , was the fact that there was a range of techniques from slip casting, to ram pressing. The quality of the work was incredible, and it had a real nod to studio ceramics which is where it all originated from."
We love that a little bit of Stoke-on-Trent is down under, too.
Robert had four children, of who Sam is one. Now working as a studio potter, Keith and Marj visited his studio, too.
"Meeting Sam Gordon has been a long time coming, what with covid making travel difficult. We were meant to meet up in 2022 , but alas the plans were scuppered due to the pandemic. Sam is part of the Robert Gordon dynasty of potters which goes back three or four generations in Australia. He now resides off grid and has a studio in an incredible part of the world a short drive outside Melbourne. The view from his wheel is something out of a Jurassic scene. He mostly make and designs for high end restaurants and, his words certainly not mine, 'likes making plates' which is just as well."
After a couple of days to enjoy Australia, with some beach walks and good food planned, Keith and Marj are heading to Clay Gulgong in New South Wales.
On Monday 15th April, Keith will be in conversation with Catherine du Peloux Menagé on the stage of The Prince of Wales Opera House, and on Tuesday 16th, he’ll launch a daily ThrowDownUnder challenge for potters attending the festival.
This is a post from the free level of Keith’s new substack. We’re working on the paid level, which directly supports the restoration of Capel Salem, Pwllheli, North Wales. Paid subscribers will get exclusive behind-the-scenes photography as Capel Salem is restored, advance notice of sales of Keith’s studio work (which always sell out quickly!), and invites to subscriber-only events.