In the summer of 2006 I had the opportunity to travel back to Australia for a month-long visit, partially to re-visit my highly missed friends and furry companions (of the roo, koala and possum varieties) and partially to attend and present a paper at the Verge conference in Brisbane. While I was there I had the opportunity to meet an artist I had been long interested in meeting since she was an artist in residence at ACAD (Alberta College of Art and Design) in Calgary, Canada and I had fallen in love with an exhibition of her exquisite porcelain sculptures. The artist, Fleur Schell was as much of a delight in person as her work is to experience.
The main reason I bring her up now, beyond wanting to share her work with you, is that she also runs a residency program in Perth, Australia which I thought might be of interest. The SODA (Sculptural Objects Design Australia) residency program has 3 resident artists, Fleur Schell, Maree Mack and Karen Millar and was set up by Fleur as a means of bringing international artists to her own doorstep rather than constantly traveling for such inspiration and exposure to other artists and their work. It’s genius really, build it and they will come… Now if only I could figure out a way of turning my humble little backyard studio into an international residency program…
Oh and the above image is a piece from a series Fleur has created for her little girl, a ceramic story book, which I do hope goes to print sometime soon.
