Ceramic artist Ronda Luland paints appealing coastal scenes on her hand-thrown vessels and takes pride in carefully crafting her works to a high standard. By exhibiting with Flying Arts, she hopes to broaden the audience for her pieces.

I was so excited to be offered a place to show my work at the Judith Wright Art Centre in Brisbane. I have been using underglazes on my pots for a long time but after a workshop with Stephen Bowers in Brisbane four years ago I started to paint actual scenery and under sea creatures onto my pots. After attending one of Bill Powell‘s workshops on throwing large pieces and doing a chrystal glaze workshop with him I was able to get five of Bill’s large bisque pots which I decorated. I gave one back finished and I was able to keep the others. 

As this is my first year with Flying Arts I am hoping I can get a wider audience to see my work. I do love the idea of displaying my art work, to be able to create on the surface of a large pot, which by the way is an excellent canvas, to be able to walk around these pieces and see from all sides what I have painted onto these pots is amazing. I also do hand building and some of my pots are quite large and once again look like they come from under the sea. Getting the shape and finish I want is a challenge which I enjoy, and achieving the result is really rewarding.

In my practice at the moment, I am creating some bowls, cups, plates and goblets for a client with minimal colour palette. I am only using a white glaze all over with a blue edge that I get to run into the pieces creating a lovely effect with the mixing glazes that pool inside the piece.

I am involved with a couple of local pottery groups – Tweed Unlimited Arts in Banora Point NSW, and Murwillumbah Potters in NSW, both of which have several weekend exhibitions coming up this year. The last weekend in June and November will see the Tweed group showcase our work. Murwillumbah have three exhibits held later in the year. One is an open studio event in August and is held Australia wide, commonly known as the Mud Trail. The other two are closer to Christmas.

I am lucky to be five minutes from the studio at Tweed and to not only get to experience the medium in all forms but I also help pack and unpack the electric kilns on site. I like to finish all the pieces I make to a high standard and so take a lot of care finishing my pots off well.

Ronda’s ceramic series Sea Life will be on display at the Judith Wright Centre from 1 March – 24 May 2019 as part of the Seasonal Sittings of Tiny Art – Autumn

Ronda Luland comes from several generations of artists, growing up in the country and playing in the “mud” on the farm. In the 70’s she attended Bondi TAFE and did a course in ceramics and china painting. Ronda joined Tweed Unlimited Arts Pottery group 10 years ago and  once again enjoyed the introduction to ceramics. She loves living close to the ocean – her “Sea Life Series” is inspired by this. Some of the local landmarks are hand painted onto some larger pieces that Ronda obtained from a large pot workshop run by Bill Powell, Master Potter. She has also attended a Stephen Bower workshop in Brisbane to observe his technique on painting his pieces. Ronda has been inspired to paint plates and vessels with her own designs. Recently, Ronda has been throwing her own pieces and decorating them with Chrysanthos underglazes, once again focusing on the theme of “Sea Life.”

You can keep up with Ronda on Instagram.