About: Sharon Mackay

Sharon Mackay, is a ceramics artist who loves playing, creating and experimenting with everything to do with clay and ceramics. She has an affinity with clay, glazes and firing that is natural and effortless. She is very excited about Raku and Pit firing processes, as the combination of organic materials, and fire can result in unique creations that can never be replicated.

Sharon discovered her love of clay in the mid-70s. Soon after she met her husband, who is a metal machinist. He gave her a potter’s wheel as a Christmas present, that he made from a pushbike wheel with a chain, pulley and a motor and it worked fantastic! Sharon taught herself using books, as there was no internet back then, and sold a few things at local markets. Then life took over, they built their first home, then children followed, and her pottery and creativity got put aside.

In 2018 she returned to her craft with more passion than ever. In an interview with MakerCast, Sharon explains that she uses her craft as a form of meditation and relaxation and that life has gone full circle and she has returned to her creative soul to spend more time with her clay. (MakerCast 6. Interview: Sharon Mackay, Apr 14, 2020).

Interviews

• 2020, April – MakerCast 6. Interview: Sharon Mackay
• 2020, July – Creatives During Isolation and Beyond project created by Julie Ferans-Pheasant and supported  by Armadale city Council. Interview transcript – Sharon Mackay.

Exhibitions

Sharon is a regular artist at the Waterwheel Gallery in Bedfordale where a range of her creative artworks are on display. The gallery is open to the public the last weekend of each month.