Tyler Redway
SINCE she could pick up a pencil, Mount Gambier artist and sculptor Julianne Woodruff has evolved her specialised area of expertise from paints and pencils to the art of clay.
From studying at an art college in Warrnambool, Ms Woodruff has continued to learn and grow her skills ever since her first year of attendance more than 40 years ago.
Speaking to The Border Watch, she revealed how her love for pottery eventually took over her interest as an art medium.
“I got frustrated with painting so I ended up running into the pottery room and it took over,” Ms Woodruff said.
She added pottery could be time consuming and explained the process of how pottery goes through a long-winded process to be considered complete.
“With painting, it might take a few days or a few weeks to finish off – with clay it can take around half a day to build the base of a sculpture,” Ms Woodruff said.
“Once you’re finished with paintings, you send them to get framed and you are done with it, whereas with clay, you have to wait a few weeks for it to become bone dry after being put in the kiln.”
She said it was sometimes like Christmas morning whenever the kiln was opened to see the results, mentioning pottery could sometimes be a game of chance.
“You open the kiln and there are all these reactions you could have, no matter how experienced you might be, you never know what you are going to get,” she said.
Ms Woodruff said she liked to keep the first sculpture from a batch of creations to serve as a progress check to improve future techniques.
“It’s a good reference to come back to and see what you have made and how it’s progressed,” she said.
Ms Woodruff had since established a profession in selling her work, with some customers said to have asked for pottery lessons.
“Anywhere I went people were asking me for lessons, but there is no way I can fit anyone in my workshop,” she said.
“I had three enquiries recently and I keep saying I just need a proper space to work in.”
Ms Woodruff has been supplying galleries with her work for over 20 years and said money can be made from the artform.
She added most people would be able to pick up sculpting quickly due to its easy going nature.
“Clay is therapeutic and everyone seems to enjoy it, it’s kind of like going back to kindergarten and playing with plasticine,” she said.
“It’s a good tactile thing that almost anyone can sit down and do because you are constantly learning.”
