Les Blakebrough AM (1930 - 2022)

Les Blakebrough AM was one of Australia’s leading ceramic artists. His body of work has ranged from earthy functional wares to more recent, delicate forms. The ethereal beauty of these later works emphasises the translucency and fragility of the Southern Ice Porcelain he trademarked and spent more than five years developing. His passionate research and development of the techniques and materials of ceramics have led him on journeys of discovery from studying with master potters in Japan in the 1960s to working with leading manufacturers of industrial ceramics in Scandinavia in the 1990s.

About Fred is an homage to Les’ good friend the late painter Fred Williams. Les dedicated a series of works to Fred in 2010. This work is made with Southern Ice Porcelain.

Australian Design Centre’s exhibition Living Treasures: Masters of Australian Craft – Les Blakebrough: Ceramics toured nationally from 2006 to 2009.

Read more about Les Blakebrough here.

Listen to the podcast interview on Object: Stories of Craft and Design with Les Blakebrough here.

Blakebrough has made an extraordinary contribution to visual art, craft and design in Australia as a practitioner, teacher, mentor and visionary advocate. He has been Director of the Sturt Pottery and Sturt Workshops, a founding member of the Crafts Board of the Australia Council, Head of Ceramics at the Tasmanian School of Art and a Principle Research Fellow at the University of Tasmania. He has been awarded numerous awards and commissions and his works are held in all major public collections in Australia and in many others around the world.

About Fred, 2010
porcelain
$5,000