IAG Masterclass: Clay Creatures with Bonnie Hislop

Create your own animal themed ceramic with artist Bonnie Hislop.

Guided by ceramic artist Bonnie Hislop, you will explore the fundamentals of hand building with clay to create your own animal themed ceramic piece. Your creation could be a functional or sculptural work - what ever your heart desires!

Participants will have the option of both making and underglazing their creation in this session. Bonnie will then take these pieces to her studio to dry, glaze and fire, and return in approximately four weeks from the class date. 

All materials will be provided including clay, ceramic tools and underglaze.

What to bring: Participants are asked to bring inspiration photos and a apron if desired.

This event will be run in the Ipswich Art Workshop. 

About the Artist 

Bonnie Hislop is an artist focusing on ceramics, particularly handbuilding and ceramic illustration. Grounded in technical skill, her practice has evolved from creating illustrative ceramic planters to large scale sculptural work. Bonnie uses her forms to critically engage with the world around her and document the human experience. 

Working from her Meanjin home studio, Bonnie meticulously hand crafts her forms through an involved and often uncertain process inherent in working with clay. She unites bright colours and satirical concepts to engage her audience in a dialogue with the physical world around them. Her work intersects traditional representations of ceramics with a craft aesthetic to create a contemporary interpretation of the ceramic medium. The artwork doesn’t take itself too seriously yet is able to capture personal experiences universal to the human condition. Her practice aims to encapsulate universal experiences of frustration, angst, grief, emotional fatigue as well as feminine strength, intimacy and desire.

Bonnie regularly facilitates ceramic classes, produces public programs and exhibits her work around Australia. In 2024 she won the 3D category at the Ipswich Art Awards and was a finalist in the North Queensland Ceramic Awards.