CHRISTMAS TALE

FROM HER CONVERTED FARMHOUSE IN TASMANIA, ARTIST NESS LOCKYER IS BUSY SPREADING THE HOLIDAY SPIRIT WITH HER HANDMADE DESIGNS

- HARRIET SIM

It was in her school classroom that Tasmanian-based artist Ness Lockyer first locked eyes with her future love. Although, unlike many schoolyard romances, her introduction to ceramics was not a case of love at first sight. “I actually hated ceramics at school, and would often head off to the art room to draw or paint instead,” recalls Ness from her studio in Gravelly Beach, near Launceston, where she runs Marley & Lockyer, a ceramics and homewares shop. “I obviously listened to some of what was said, as I found the move to ceramics [later in life] quite natural,” she adds.

While on maternity leave, Ness started making clay tags at her kitchen table while her boys, Declan, now 17, and Mason, 15, would nap. “I felt I had lost some of my creative self after having our boys and ceramics was the perfect medium for me at that moment,” recalls Ness. “I started getting requests from friends to purchase the tags for gifts and their Christmas trees. So, I thought I’d try some other pieces. I purchased my first kiln, and Marley & Lockyer kicked off in 2007.”