Leah is a ceramic artist with a studio on her farm outside of Bathurst. Three of Leah’s handmade works are on show on plinths this month at the Oberon Visitor Information Centre.
Oberon Plinth Show
Dates: 8-31 October
Open: 9.30am – 5pm (7 days)
Oberon Visitor Information Centre.
48 Ross St, Oberon NSW.
Ph: (02) 6329 8210
Leah McKay
I have been a potter my whole life. I fondly remember my childhood making mud pies with my brothers and sister using the grey clay from the irrigation channels on our rice farm in the Riverina and I still have the various pottery pieces I made while at school. With a few stops and starts along the way I am now an experienced ceramic artist with a studio on our farm outside of Bathurst in Central West NSW.
I have always found inspiration wherever I lived, and I have always made things. From cups and plates for the cubby house made from mud to doll houses out of old shoe boxes and necklaces for my grandmas out of gumnuts. This progressed to a love affair with pottery and ceramics, painting and drawing that started in art class at high school and has continued to weave its way throughout my life. I studied a Certificate in Ceramics at TAFE NSW from 1995 to 1998. During this time, I pursued other artistic pursuits with life drawing classes at CSU Bathurst with artist David Wilson, cake decorating and sewing classes and exhibited ceramic and polymer clay work at several craft fairs. In recent years I attended several Life drawing schools at Norman Lindsay Gallery in Springwood.
I am always drawn to the cultural and artistic nature of the country and communities I visit.
I have been fortunate to travel over the years. My suitcase always returns home with a ceramic treasure from somewhere and my drawing books will be full of scribbled drawings. My phone is full of photos that provide inspiration for my work. From building walls with a beautiful texture to coloured tiles or cornices and crenellations that inspire the decoration or edging of a pot. I am now semiretired and focused on hand built ceramics spending the last 3 years setting up my studio and building a body of work that is reflective of my home, garden and travels.
