In Conversation with Pippin Drysdale

H: Whilst I’m an admirer of your work I am by no means an aficionado so I’m really keen to understand how this exhibition came about and where your work has stemmed from?

P: I have to say, that so much of the work comes down to your own sense of personal aesthetic and taste. 

When I started, or more-so when I decided I wanted to take up clay I was probably in my early 30’s – I might have to reference the CV to double check but I would say my 30’s. 

I went to Perth Tech and did a 3-year diploma, and we had a really dreadful American teacher who simply hated teaching girls who had come from private schools. There was several of us in the class and he just enjoyed humiliating us – although despite all the negatives I felt that he actually gave us an excellent education. He would give us the most outrageous assignments over the summer holidays, like ‘I want you to make 60 bowls out of 1.5 pounds of clay, or 60 bottles with a specific type of neck’ 

In a funny kind of way, his assignments and the pressures taught me so much. I had a wheel and an old brick kiln in Mosman Park in Glyde Street where I was living with my parents in an old shed, so I sat there all summer making 160 bowls and I finally thought to myself ‘this is fantastic’ –  and I picked the best 60 out and I’ll never forget, I was so proud. 

That immense feeling of pride didn’t last long though – our teacher would just look for the smallest imperfection and he’d just hurl them straight into the trash – and you know what, in a way he was right. In a funny kind of way, it really helped create the affinity that I have with the bowl today – it’s the shape of the bowl and the challenge it presents that I love the most. 

When I finished my diploma, I ran off to America for 6-months, and I knew there was this wonderful place there called the Anderson Ranch. I spent some weeks there, and I remember calling dad and saying it’s only $550 per week, and he just kept feeding me money so I could do all these things. I was making tea bowls and bowls there, and I always remember Daniel Rhodes – he was one of the lecturers and it was like a dream come true as an Aussie to be with these people that you’d heard so much and seen so much about and become their friends. I remember one night, I would sit there after dinner and Daniel came out of the shadows and he said to me ‘Pippin, you’ve got the makings of a great potter,’ and I hung onto that forever. The experience was really once in a lifetime, the dinners, the work, the musicians – I came back poppy-eyed, I really did. My time in the USA really was the catalyst for my career. 

H: What are the real pressure points when it comes to your work? 

P: Well it took me quite some time before I invented the incising, which takes me forever. One large piece takes up to 8 hours to do the incising. 

And then I suppose it’s the fact that each vessel is only fired once, it’s a one-shot deal – the goal is to get an almost perfect interior each time. There’s plenty of vessels that have ended up in the bin though. 

The glazing of the vessels is also a real pressure point for me. I have to decide how and what and why and then I’ve got to get into the right mood and space and think am I working with cool colours or warm colours. I also really nurture the vessels in the drying phase, I nurture them like babies. 

H: Is there an exhibition or collection in your mind when you’re working? 

P: I don’t start with an exhibition or collection in mind, because you really have to start the journey. You’re discovering as you go. You get some beautiful colours, but sometimes it’s not enough and you think how I got there, or what did I do, and you just can’t remember it so it’s a lot of work to get to that point. 

I want everything to be a one-off, everything needs to be unique.