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| Springside Porcelain |
| Christine Bailey is a cake decorator by trade. While she still pipes and bakes, these days it's porcelain, not sponge cakes, she's popping in the oven. |
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Fifteen years ago Christine Bailey enrolled herself in pottery classes. She loved making functional pieces from clay and soon decided to tap into the ceramic market. She set up a small workroom in the garage of her Richmond home, before moving to Bilpin where she worked in a shed. As her collection and business grew, Christine realised she needed a much larger workshop and somewhere to display her craft, so she commissioned the building of Springside Gallery.
A cake decorator for 30 years, Christine incorporates designs and techniques from the trade into her pottery. She has a "secret" technique for piping designs onto many of her pieces which is adapted from her days as a cake decorator.
One of the unique features of Christine's work is that she 'throws' her fine porcelain pieces on a wheel. There aren't many artists who throw porcelain, especially as fine as Christine's. Once she has thrown and fired each piece, Christine hand paints a design onto the surface, usually with a floral theme.
Christine seeks inspiration from all walks of life. She recently did a full display using an iceberg rose design which was inspired by flowers in her garden. The entire range sold out in just one day. On another occasion she was inspired by wrapping paper and created a delicate forget-me-not design. Lavender and flannel flowers feature in her standard range and are available year round.
All the work in Christine's large gallery is her own. This is quite extraordinary considering the range of pieces and the size of the collection. Her gallery is open to the public and she often does public displays in her adjoining workshop so customers can watch pieces being made. She has a tea and coffee area and occasionally hosts Devonshire Tea during which organised tours visit the gallery, watch a demonstration and enjoy a cup of tea with scones.
It's not just the pottery that's capturing attention at Springside Gallery, but also the building itself. The unusually shaped construction recently won a Master Builder's Association award for the best use of recycled timber. The octagonal gallery was designed by Gary Jol of G&D Jol Building Services in close collaboration with Christine.
The timber pole building covers 300 square metres, with a gamble roof and dormer windows. It was built using locally grown and milled timbers as well as recycled materials. Inside, there are three central poles from the old Sydney wharves. One of the main features of the construction is the external lining made from a huge Blue Mountains pine tree that was struck by lightning.
Another interesting feature of the building is the unusual installation of the glass windows. These were slotted into the timber without using glazing beads, a method Jol believes was untried until now. Jol was reluctant to enter the gallery into the MBA awards, but was pushed to do it by Christine, who even paid the entry fee. As it turns out, the happy client was right and the gallery is an award winning design. |
More Info
Springside Gallery
2967 Bells Line Of Road
Bilpin NSW 2758
Ph: 02 4567 1124
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