FOSTER A POTTER WINNERS 2025

The Board of FOSTER A POTTER Ltd is thrilled to announce its three inaugural placements for 2025 in which students will undertake a negotiated period of workshop-based training with experienced ceramicists and potters.

TWO FOSTER A POTTER AWARDS OF $10,000:
Liane Fenwick (student) working with Malcolm Greenwood (mentor); Sydney NSW
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Siena Hyland (student), St Andrews, VIC working with Bandicoot Pottery, Daniel Lafferty and Gabrielle Powell (mentors); Cobargo, NSW
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THE ANNE MOSSMAN GRANT OF $5,000:
Lachlan Mackee (student); Cairns QLD working with Len Cook (mentor), Paluma QLD

FOSTER A POTTER received 12 applications. We thank the mentors and students who applied for placements, and we wish them all the very best in their ongoing pottery journeys.

We thank the FOSTER A POTTER (FOPO) panel – Julie Bartholomew, Holly Macdonald and Peter Pilven – for their time spent considering the applications, and for sharing their thoughts with us.

SOME FEEDBACK FROM THE PANEL:
The strongest applications were ambitious and centred around the tacit knowledge that could be shared by working alongside a mentor in a studio context. They articulated a clear link between the learning goals of the mentee and the learning opportunities provided by the mentor. They also reflected the mentors’ extensive and varied experience and adeptness for running a business.

FOSTER A POTTER’s selection procedure was both fair and comprehensive. The panel used exhibitions, industry experience, education, and a recent body of work as criteria. Most importantly, both mentor and student explained why they wanted to be part of this initiative and what they hoped to achieve from this collective experience.

The three successful students, Liane, Siena and Lachlan, each demonstrated a strong commitment to their ceramics practice having taken up diverse opportunities to further their love and knowledge of clay. They did this by undertaking short courses given by master potters in their studios, and by working and/or volunteering in different studios, pottery schools and galleries.
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We are excited about these three placements and we look forward to updating you on their progress throughout the year.

We are grateful for the generosity of Malcolm, Daniel, Gabrielle and Len in their willingness to share their lifetime of experience and knowledge with the next generation.

SOME INFORMATION ABOUT THE WINNING TEAMS:
Liane Fenwick (student) & Malcolm Greenwood (mentor)
malcolmgreenwood.com
Instagram: @lianefenwick
Liane Fenwick plans to work beside master potter, Malcolm Greenwood, in his Sydney studio. Malcolm has been working with clay for 48 years and produces custom designed tableware for some of the most exclusive restaurants, hotels and cafes in Australia. Malcolm feels a responsibility to share his knowledge and experience and is committed to teaching Liane a broad range of practical skills, along with the critical elements of form and function essential for commercial tableware as a canvas for food. Liane will also be learning the business skills for running a viable studio practice with the intention of establishing her own ceramic business and taking on some of Malcolm’s new clients in 2026.

Siena Hyland (student) will work with Bandicoot Pottery – Daniel Lafferty and Gabrielle Powell (mentors)
bandicootpottery.com.au
Instagram: @by_siena_
Siena Hyland will be working alongside Daniel Lafferty and Gabrielle Powell at Bandicoot Pottery. Daniel has been a full-time ceramic artist for nearly 40 years providing one-off pieces and tableware for many of Australia’s fine-dining restaurants and his production studio utilises wild clay and ash glazes fired in his wood kiln. Gabrielle Powell is a teacher, ceramicist and basket maker, specialising in community arts. Siena is keen to harvest raw materials from the landscape, choosing Daniel as a mentor partly for his knowledge of the geological formation of primary and secondary clays, clay and mineral identification and processing, and glaze testing with local materials. Siena is also seeking to learn technical and business skills, self-promotion, and marketing in order to showcase her work to a broader audience. Daniel and Gabrielle are looking forward to having Siena’s energy and enthusiasm in the studio to assist with their pottery classes and with some of the manual tasks involving in running a teaching facility and a production studio.

Lachlan Mackee (student) will work with Len Cook (mentor)
sidestoke.com/Cook/
Instagram: @service_ceramics
Lachlan Mackee is seeking guidance and mentorship, along with tacit skill transfer, from Len Cook, a master potter and one of Australia’s leading anagama woodfirers, who has made a living from his craft for more than forty years. Lachlan hopes to gain the confidence and knowledge to improve his current skills and practice, and expand this into his future as a full-time studio potter. This placement revolves around two month-long blocks focused on firing Len Cook’s anagama kiln. This will include wood preparation, designing and making works for this style of kiln, kiln loading, and finally firing, then the kiln/work clean up.

The Board would like to thank all the people who have donated to FOSTER A POTTER with money, pots or time. We receive no government funding so it is truly inspirational that, thanks to our wonderful community of “muddy friends”, these placements are possible.

For more information, please contact:

Foster A Potter Ltd
Directors: Vicki Grima, Susie McIntosh and Jean McMaster
+61 (0)419 250 282 (Vicki)
E: fosterapotter@gmail.com
fosterapotter.com.au