the studio
hi, i'm Hayley.
I'm the maker behind terra maree, making small batches of ceramics on the Mornington Peninsula.
It started with a six-week pottery course I was given as a gift. I loved it enough to buy myself a $100 pottery wheel, and things grew from there.
At some point, I needed something to stamp on the bottom of my pieces. I didn't want to just use my name, but I did want something that felt like me. That's where terra maree started. Terra means earth, a nod to the clay, and Maree is a name I share with my mum.
I wasn't really thinking about selling anything at that stage, but whenever I gave someone a piece, I'd get asked why I wasn't selling them. Eventually, I thought maybe I should give it a go.
Funnily enough, ceramics have been in my family for generations. Both of my grandmothers didn't just make ceramics, they lived and breathed it. My Pa even had firing my Granny's pieces in their kiln at home down to a fine art. I never gave much thought to any of it until I was well and truly into pottery myself.
the making.
I'm a perfectionist by nature, which is a funny thing to be when you work with clay. I can spend ages getting a piece just how I want it, only for the kiln to have completely different plans.
I've had glazes come out nothing like I expected, pieces that haven't survived firing, and plenty of moments where I've wondered what on earth happened. It's frustrating sometimes, but I think that's part of why I enjoy it so much. There's always something new to learn, and I'm slowly getting better at letting things happen without trying to control every little detail.
Everything is thrown by me on the wheel, a few pieces at a time. I tend to go back to shapes and glazes I love, but there's usually something new I'm experimenting with too.
made to be used.
The thing I love most about making ceramics is knowing they're going to be used. I want my pieces to be the ones you actually reach for. The mug you use every morning, the bowl that somehow gets used for everything, or the little dish that ends up holding your jewellery beside the bed.
I often think about where the pieces will end up. Something that's spent weeks being thrown, trimmed, glazed and fired eventually finds its way into someone else's home, where it becomes part of their everyday life.