BISQUE STUDIOS TEAM
Bisque Studios is run by a vibrant team of creative ceramic artists & potters. Each of our teachers shares a unique background and specialised interests in their individual passion for ceramics in our classroom. With a shared love of ceramics and varied interests, we offer a diverse and developed calendar of classes. Offering opportunity for bother beginner and intermediate development in our classroom.
We’re proud to build a community through ceramics and are grateful to each of our team members who contribute to what makes Bisque such a welcoming and generous studio. Read more about our individual team members below.
Kate Brouwer
Studio Owner & Maker, Host of Specialist Wheel Classes.
Kate is vibrant, friendly and a passionate potter. You’ll find her on the other end of your emails co-ordinating, creating content & driving our team. She’s also a keen potter, passionate about mastering challenging forms and exploring the boundlessness of clay. As well as a firm believer in strong community and authentic relationships. These interests brought Kate to create Bisque Studios. An accessible space where the local community can connect with artists and makers and delve into the wide world of clay.
Through Bisque Studios, Kate hopes people make authentic connections with others as well as connecting to their own creativity. Kate can be found doing production on site during the week, making a range of her signature pieces. As well as teaching specialised intermediate wheel classes on the weekends, throughout the year. Check out our workshop page & see what’s coming up.
View Kate’s personal line of ceramics at Aobimasu Clay, Instagram: @asobimasu_clay
Georgia Boulton
Teacher & Maker
Georgia is a friendly face & joyful teacher, she shares her skills & delightful laugh in the classroom. Brining light to her Monday & Thursday classes. Drawn to ceramics for it’s mindful and meditative connection, Georgia’s work reflects simple and comforting forms, with each piece produced with intention and with purpose to soothe and calm , whether the pot be filled with hot tea or a bowl of delicious pasta.
Georgia’s passion for pottery extends into the classroom where she fosters a calm, considered and engaged collaboration with all students who come through the studio. Providing warmth and generosity, Georgia loves experiencing the shared joy in the satisfaction of creating and inspiring in the classroom.
Cassie Lynch
Teacher & Maker
Cass Lynch is a multidisciplinary artist. She throws, sews, and paints out of her home studio in Thornbury (Wurundjeri Land). She is originally from Seattle (Duwamish land) and discovered her immediate connection to pottery when a friend’s Grandfather first taught her in his studio in Gippsland (Gunaikurnai Land). Her work is often minimal in nature, with a focus on distinct forms and textures, while showcasing the natural colouring of the medium. She finds the methodical and tactical nature of pottery to be meditative, and feels reverence for the deep history that this art form has.
Cassie brings her vibrant can-do attitude to the classroom, encouraging students to grow and be inspired by the ever deepening world of clay exploration. Cassie hosts a few classes throughout the week & expecially enjoys teaching our “Next Steps” sessions, sharing her key areas of knowledge and skills with budding ceramic enthusiasts.
You’ll find Cassie’s work on Instagram at @casslyn.ch
Elsie Jean Thomas
Teacher, Maker & Administrative Assistant
Elsie plays a key role in keeping out studio tidy & organised. She can be found in the office implementing plans & strategies to keep the wheels moving. Sharing a friendly smile and & helpful Practicing on Wurundjeri Country, Elsie Jean-Thomas is an artist deeply immersed in the possibilities of ceramic practice, exploring clay as a meditation on creation, death, and rebirth. She embraces minimal processes and aesthetics, favoring the simplicity and intimacy of handbuilding techniques alongside pared-back glazing that celebrates the raw, organic beauty of clay.
Through deliberate, tactile methods, Elsie collaborates with clay not just as a material but as a living participant, shaping and being shaped by its inherent potential and unfolding narrative. Her thoughtful engagement with the material allows its natural textures and forms to guide her, fostering a process rooted in intuition and intention.
Beyond her studio practice, Elsie brings her passion for ceramics into her community. You might find her hosting Intro Workshops, updating the website, newsletter or Instagram, or ensuring Bisque remains an inspiring and welcoming space for everyone.
Dawn Vachon
Teacher, Maker & Glaze Tech
Dawn studied visual arts at Emily Carr University of Art and Design in Vancouver, receiving her BFA in 2008. Since relocating to Melbourne, she has made a lot of ceramic pots and has exhibited a handful of ceramic things that aren’t pots. Dawn can often be found throwing, handbuilding and concocting glazes at her home-studio in Coburg.
Dawn brings a wealth of knowledge to the classroom and studio, with a wide range of skills to share, Dawn has been a valuable part of our team for many years. Moving from the class room & into our glaze room, Dawn brings knowledge, creativity & a vivacious curiosity to the team.
View Dawns work through instagram at @dawn.vachon & @dawn.vachon.pots
Chris Ellis
Teacher, Workshop Host & Studio tech
With a background in music and painting, Chris has spent the past seven years honing his craft in ceramics, a space he uses to merge these diverse creative interests.
His work draws from the rich history of ceramics while also embracing a spirit of spontaneity and childlike wonder. This unique combination results in pieces that are both thoughtful and bold, elegant yet whimsical.
In the classroom Chris shares his love of ceramics with others, encouraging his students to explore their own creative possibilities. He brings a combination of history, knowledge and play into the studio, making for the perfect teacher to begin your ceramic journey with!
View Chris’ work on Instagram: @chrisellispots
Rosa
Teacher, Artist & Studio Tech
Rosa is a community artist and maker whose practice is routed in materials and making. Her work explores themes of the landscape and our ever changing relationship to it, often letting material exploration guide the process.
She found ceramics in her final year of study at Glasgow School of art, Scotland and has spent the consecutive 4 years learning and exploring clays’ boundless opportunities.
Teaching and sharing ideas is a key source of inspiration in Rosa’s work. In the classroom she utilise her experience in community arts to foster a supportive, playful and relaxed environment.
Daisy Weir
Studio Tech & Hand-building Teacher
Daisy is a Scottish artist living in Melbourne with a focus in painting and ceramics. Throughout her 10 years as a praticing artist, she has continually explored the importance of scale, colour harmony and tactility.
Since developing a deep interest in ceramics during 2019, Daisy has continued to playfully experiement with clay and its endless possibilities, creating small batches of cups and plates to large decorative vases and most recently ceramic frames for her paintings.
Daisy is a new and enthusiastic handbuilding teacher at Bisque Studios, with years of experience teaching students in Scotland the magic of ceramics!
Nick Hannah
Intermediate Teacher & Workshop Host
Nick has been making wheel-thrown tableware since 2012, shifting from a photography career after discovering the joy of clay. He studied under Jane Sawyer at Slow Clay in Melbourne, and spent time at the National Art School in Sydney before working closely with his creative mentors, including Prue Venables, Chester Nealie, and Sandy Lockwood.
His work is inspired by a love of useful objects, the search for an essential beauty, and the breath of the sea. Teaching pottery offers an opportunity to share the deep connections that clay creates – with the world and within our daily rituals.
Nick believes that through thoughtful, handcrafted objects we can create a deeper engagement with the world around us. His greatest wish is to encourage moments of quiet contemplation and joy in the rhythms of daily life.