April 11, 2012
The Bunya Mountains – and bunya nuts – hold a special attraction to Brisbane ceramic artist Cathy Keys.
Cathy has family ties in the area and has been visiting the mountains since she was a child.
A few years ago she approached Kay Joyce from the Bunya Forest Gallery to see if she would be interested in stocking her yellow paper daisy artwork.
Not only did Kay agree to stock the naturally stained pieces but she also encouraged Cathy to explore other types of artwork.
Cathy quickly became drawn to ceramics and was intrigued by the hand-coiled baskets that she was being taught to make. Traditional ceramic artists flatten out these coils to create their finished works but Cathy enjoyed the organic form of the coils.
She began experimenting with ways of incorporating the coils into her finished pieces. This is where her training as an architect kicked in. She worked out ways to stop the coils from collapsing by balancing the forms.
She also began to experiment using “torn” clay.
Her new styles of working have proven to be the perfect media to create her bunya nut designs which has led her to return, full-circle, to the Bunya Forest Gallery.
Cathy is the “artist in focus” at the gallery for March-April. Her creations, including stoneware ceramics, yellow paper daisies, pendants, brooches and pastels are featured in a special display which runs until April 30.
She was a guest of the gallery on Easter Sunday where the many visitors enjoying their meals had the opportunity to chat with her.
