Josephine Townsend is an early career ceramic artist working in Canberra. Her practice is diverse: she makes functional items, sculptural work and coloured porcelain items including jewellery. Townsend’s sculptures are small to medium sized and are high fired to be strong and durable. They include wombats, lizards, pears, bird baths and carved dragon seats. In her functional work she builds surfaces and shapes that invite the touch. The colours, textures and features of the Australian landscape are expressed in her work through the use of soft matte glazes, echoing the pinks, greens and greys of gum trees. Townsend also uses the surfaces as a canvas for landscape scenes and botanical imagery, from photographs and drawings. Her porcelain works are all about colour and pattern, from structured geometric patterning to loose organic shapes. She explores precious qualities of porcelain, the delicacy and fineness, the luminous translucence and pure colour response, through the making of decorative home items, functional ware and jewellery. 

At Josephine’s open studio she will have ceramic work available for sale priced from $10 to $500.

Items include:

• Tableware
• Garden sculptures and bird baths
• Home wares and decorator items
• Porcelain and sterling silver jewellery
• Sale table of old stock/seconds

Townsend will also be giving a demonstration with coloured porcelain at 2pm. Come along to see the works, drink a cuppa and have a chat with the artist. 

josephinetownsendceramics.net.au