Welcome to Clay Connections, our short side series.

In this episode we are chatting with the wonderful Holly Macdonald. At the time of recording, Holly was undertaking a residency at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop https://www.ssw.org.uk/. We chatted about this experience, working with clay through performance, community practice and the ups and downs of living a creative life. A wonderful inspiring chat!

Holly Macdonald is an independent artist working across ceramics, performance, interdisciplinary collaboration and community practice. Through her practice she explores the dynamic relationship between maker, material, and place. By following clay into often unknown sculptural outcomes, Holly aims to foreground material agency and remain open to what we might learn about ourselves and our world from working with such a soft and responsive material.

Currently based in Muloobinba/ Newcastle, Holly has exhibited work throughout Australia including at Maitland Regional Art Gallery, Lake Macquarie's Multi-Arts Pavilion, mima, Cement Fondu, Firstdraft and Sabbia Gallery. They have undertaken residencies in the Northern Territory, France, Belgium and most recently at the Scottish Sculpture Workshop in Scotland.

As well as maintaining a studio practice, Holly teaches ceramics and has contributed time and enthusiasm to organisations such as The Australian Ceramics Association, The Creator Incubator (Muloobina/ Newcastle) and kil.n.it Experimental Ceramics, Sydney. She is a graduate of the National Art School and holds an Honours degree in Fine Art from RMIT.

https://www.instagram.com/h_ollymacdonald/

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Talk to us via email birdsofclaypodcast@gmail.com or DM @birdsofclay_podcast.

Find us on Instagram
Rora @aurora_elwell
Jane @jane.orme.pottery

Welcome to Clay Connections, our short side series.

Today we chat with the very talented Samuel Leighton-Dore. Sam is a screenwriter, director and interdisciplinary visual artist based on the Gold Coast, Queensland, living and working on the lands of the Kombumerri families from Yugambeh Language Region.

Sam's calmness, warm nature and humour shine through while we chat about vulnerability, toxic masculinity, social media and our struggles with boundaries.

Please check out the below links, especially the smile tiles - they really do make you smile.

https://www.instagram.com/thesmiletiles/
https://www.instagram.com/samleightondore/
https://www.sadmanstudio.com

If you or someone you know is in crisis and needs help now, call triple zero (000). You can also call Lifeline on 13 11 14 — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can also find other supports here https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/mental-health-helplines

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Talk to us via email birdsofclaypodcast@gmail.com or DM @birdsofclay_podcast.

Find us on Instagram
Rora @aurora_elwell
Jane @jane.orme.pottery

Welcome to Clay Connections, our short side series.

It's our first international chat! Today, Jane is speaking with Eva Masterman from Newcastle, England.

Eva Masterman is an artist and educator working with clay for over 16 years, in both sculpture and collaborative participation. She is the founder of The Clay Commons, a developing organisation and podcast that explores clay as an agent for change and community studios as sites of emancipatory education and anticapitalist organising.

We chat about the changing face of clay education, the rise of the studio model, creating more inclusive communities and Eva's passion—creating a network of radical community clay studios outside the pressure of capitalism.

@evamasterman

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Talk to us via email birdsofclaypodcast@gmail.com or DM @birdsofclay_podcast.

Find us on Instagram
Rora @aurora_elwell
Jane @jane.orme.pottery