Artist profile
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
“EVERYTHING the same? I don’t like that and I don’t like being restricted,” Annemarie Athea says, with an almost mantra-like dedication, as we meet under the gallery lights.
We’ve met to have a chat about art. More specifically, hers.
A pharmacist by trade, Mrs Athea is not your typical art-type.
But, she would urge me against saying so because life has a way of twisting and turning, and rules are made to be broken, and what’s a label worth anyway?
In that light, she just is what she is and does what she loves.
It’s this concept that almost radiates from her first ever exhibition now on at Gallery On Track - a retrospective of works from her hobby pottery over 20-odd years.
It all began for Mrs Athea in the final stages of pregnancy.
Some 15 years after trying her hand at a potter’s wheel in compulsory high school art classes, the opportunity arose to purchase a second hand wheel and kiln from an elderly lady moving into a bedsit.
“Next thing you know I’ve got a baby and a wheel and kiln and no idea how to manage any of them, and not having time for anything because I was still working,” she recalls.
Never inclined, or with the time, to take a pottery class, Mrs Athea hit the books, teaching herself the basics of ceramics.
“I learnt out of books and I just had a go, gave it a shot. Most of my stuff went back into the recycling clay,. They were really really terrible, but you end up with a success or two and it spurs you on.”
Part organic creations of feeling, part science-experiment, Mrs Athea’s work blurs the lines between the two worlds often thought of as polar opposites - science and art.
Inspired by her own life experiences, the collection, while not outwardly projecting a single theme, has moments of familiarity throughout.
Coral-like shapes, shells, anemone and crustaceans feature on pots and wallpieces, reflecting memories of scuba-diving the Great Barrier Reef.
Rustic vases, bowls and pitchers throw off designs not unlike local bush-leaves and gum-nuts. Sculptural pieces pay tribute to the human body.
Glossy, matte and rough textures complement each other throughout the collection.
A bright red wall-piece, ‘Life On Mars’, stands out amongst the natural hues of blue, terracotta and green.
“Nothing is really out of bounds,” Mrs Athea tells me.
“A lot of people say I took my sciences into ceramics and it wouldn’t be incorrect at all. I find if there is a rule, well why? Why is there a rule? That’s where my imagination goes to work and I think of how I can get a result.
“It’s like an addiction I guess. I just love it.”
Mrs Athea’s collection of works (just a fraction of her personal collection) is now on display at Gallery On Track on Blackshaw Rd, as part of the gallery’s Artist Of The Month feature.
While it’s her first exhibition, it certainly won’t be her last.
“I had no idea what to expect. I must admit I did have cold feet, it was worse than getting married. I was quite concerned.
“If I didn’t have Carol Divall (Artist Of The Month curator) I would have reneged on the deal. She settled me down and I felt quite happy that people liked my pots and that people wanted to come along and look at my work.
“It’s taking a piece of yourself and putting it out there for people to look at. But, if I can do one you never know, it gives me a goal.”
She wished to thank all the volunteers at the Gallery for helping her stage the exhibition.
“I think no matter what it is, everyone needs to have a passion. This place provides an outlet for many people in town to share their passions.
It’s nice to know you can go somewhere and look at and buy something unique and a one-off,” she said.
The exhibition will run until Monday, August 31.
Gallery on Track, a volunteer- run not-for-profit arts and crafts organisation, is open on a weekly basis from Wednesday to Sunday, 10am to 4pm each day.
Admission is free but donations on entry are very welcome.
You can contact the gallery by phoning 4822 7889 or by email - galleryontrack@gmail.com.