Masters Takes Ceramics to New Heights

Award-winning ceramicist Jackie Masters is on a roll.

Over the past eight months, this highly regarded WA artisan has been working to produce dozens of pottery pieces for her forthcoming exhibition.

The result: a stunning collection of 41 pieces, on show at Gallows Gallery from April 24.

Varying in colours, textures and sizes, what the pieces share in common is their exquisite beauty, enhanced by Jackie’s brilliant attention to detail and technical precision.

“It’s been a great experience, working on this collection. I’ve learned so much in the process, and I must admit I’m extremely proud of the results,” nods Jackie, at her Perth studio. Here she has two kilns and makes all her own glazes.

Working with rare earth oxides, she puts her heart and soul into perfecting each pot.

She is always on the look-out for new vibrant colour combinations and looks to the Australian landscape, sea and sky for her inspiration.

“I always like to push myself and try new things, even if it can be nerve-wracking at times,” she says with her typical modesty.

“You can have a good idea of how something’s going to look when it comes out of the kiln, but there are always surprises in store – good and bad!”

Jackie’s signature volcanic lava glazes add alluring texture to her pieces, blending seamlessly with contrasting, smoother surrounds.

And if a piece doesn’t meet her exacting standards, it will never venture out into the world.

“This piece didn’t quite work out,” Jackie shows us a stunning blue urn, hidden in a back cupboard, which most collectors would happily display in their home.

“See this mark.. nah. Not good enough! It’s not going anywhere!”

Somehow, when she’s not designing new pieces, firing up the kiln, mixing her glazes, refining the bases, finessing her works and finally supplying them to leading outlets including Aspects of   Kings Park, she also finds the time to teach at Perth Studio Potters in Cottesloe (at the back of Burt Street Gallery).

Is she afraid of giving away trade secrets? “If somebody asks me a particular question, say, how I made a certain glaze, I’ll tell them, but that won’t mean my work will be replicated,” she explains.

“Different people work with different clay, different kilns, different temperatures; it just won’t be the same!”

Besides which, there’s only one Jackie Masters! A woman who’s been working for years at her craft and is achieving spectacular results.

Jackie’s work will be on show at Gallows Gallery from Wednesday April 24.

The Porcelain Moon Collection also features the work of painter Michael Vincent Murphy. It will be launched by artist Garry Zeck.