User:Susan+49

My name is Susan Nicholls. I am currently employed as a Visiting Fellow at the National Museum of Australia, and working with the museum to write articles for Wikipedia about the museum's collection, in order to increase knowledge of Australian history and culture in the wider online community. The museum is situated in Canberra, the capital city of Australia, on the Acton Peninsula looking out over Lake Burley Griffin. Its striking architecture has become a feature of the Canberra landscape. My background is in journalism, editing and academia. I worked as a journalist, copywriter and editor for more than two decades before taking a PhD in English Literature from the University of Wollongong in 1997. Since then I've worked as a public affairs officer with the Australian Government, and as a lecturer and researcher at the University of Canberra in the School of Professional Communication. I was also recently appointed as a Fellow of Emergency Media and Public Affairs Inc. following my research interest in disaster and recovery communication, topics in which I have published widely.

I send greetings to Wikipedians everywhere.

Notes to Wikipedians

Hi Paul foord - thanks for your welcome and advice. I'm pleased that you've set up a new page for Corroboree (Ballet). I wanted to ask your advice on creating a new page for Beth Dean. Just the little amount of research I've done on her to add information to the relevant pages makes me think she really does deserve an entry of her own. I gather you are something of a balletomane yourself - what do you think? Cheers,Susan+49 (talk) 03:05, 10 June 2011 (UTC)

Article drafts

What follows is an article I am working on.

Bendigo Pottery

Introduction

Bendigo Pottery, located at 146 Midland Highway, Epsom, 6.5 kms north of the centre of Bendigo, heading towards Echuca, Victoria. It is Australia's oldest working pottery. Started by a Scottish settler, George Duncan Guthrie (1828–1910), in the 1850s, the pottery has experienced changing fortunes over its 150 years. After a slow decline in the post-war years because of an influx of cheap plastic items, the pottery was revived in the 1970s and remains in important feature of the region's cultural heritage.

Early history (1850-1900)

The Bendigo Pottery, founded by George Duncan Guthrie in the 1850s, is Australia’s oldest working pottery, still utilising one of the most significant collections of historic wood fired kilns in the world. The kilns comprise five bottle kilns, three circular kilns and two rectangular kilns. Guthrie, a Scot who was an apprentice potter by the age of 12, emigrated to Australia to join the Australian gold rushes of the 1850s, but instead of gold, discovered a clay deposit near Bendigo, perfectly suited to the production of ceramics. Guthrie transformed this lucky find into a business that grew to rival the great Staffordshire pottery of nineteenth-century England. By 1888 11 kilns were in operation and the site employed 130 people.

Before plastics came to dominate the market, ceramics were used for a wide range of products. The population explosion created by the gold rushes resulted in an increased demand for all kinds of locally manufactured goods. Pottery diversified to meet demand, from commercial packaging to utility kitchenwares. Domestic items were, however, always a sideline to the main business of serving the building trade.

Expansion (1900s)

By 1903 Bendigo Pottery had expanded well beyond its humble beginnings and was filling a large number of orders across Australia. The success of the enterprise had much to do with Guthrie's painstaking insistence on quality and his enthusiasm for all aspects of the business.

Langley ware

Langley ware was the most popular range produced by the pottery. Launched in 1915, and continued well into the 1930s, these brown-coloured items were widely used in homes and cafes throughout Australia. Examples of Langley ware were exhibited at the 1925 British Empire Exhibition in Wembley, London. They received a bronze medal and certificate of merit.

Waverley ware

As the economy improved after the Great Depression, Bendigo Pottery returned to the production of fundamentally decorative items with a range of 'art pottery' known as Waverley ware. The line reflected Art Deco fashions and was characterised by brightly coloured glazes. Such items were thrown or created by a process known as slipcasting, a mode of production that suited Art Deco motifs with their emphasis on curves, lines and angles.

20th century revival

By 1949 the fortunes of Bendigo Pottery were in decline. The business struggled to survive as cheap ceramics from overseas flooded the market and competition from plastics meant many products became obsolete.

A revival led by Bill Derham in the 1970s inspired a renaissance for the business. Derham began his 15-year association with Bendigo Pottery in 1968, and under his leadership the business was soon flourishing again regaining its former reputation for excellence and innovation. Derham's ambitious plan for expansion, which included an extensive publicity and marketing campaign, led to renewed interest in the pottery and its products. The 1970s revival continues today under the direction of Rod and Sally Thomson.

In recent times Bendigo Pottery has launched an interpretive museum and website. In 2006, the National Museum of Australia acquired a substantial collection of Bendigo pottery and memorabilia from Bill and his wife Jeanette Derham.