Overall, Form & Fire 2026 was a success. There were 16 participants plus 3 facilitators guiding the forming, fabricating, foraging, finishing, and firing processes. 

Over the three workshops (a total of 18 workshop hours) participants learnt new skills and created connections with other artists. 

After an introduction to different types of commercial clay, their properties, and examples of use, each participant received 5kg of raku clay and hand built multiple sculptural artworks with guidance from local artist/teacher Deborah Schiel Zaini. 

Participants also had, despite delays caused by continuous rainfall, an opportunity to forage for wild clay. This was organised by local aboriginal artist Freda Masina and, while the timing affected the processing of, and working with, the wild clay, participants were keen to build on this connection to people and country and have foraging for local clay as part of future workshops. 

The raku firing of participants’ clay artwork was facilitated by Cairns-based artist/teacher Ian Whitakker, who had run the previous year’s Form & Fire workshop, and who generously volunteered his time to assist with the preparations for the Form & Fire 2026 workshops. 

Feedback from participants (included below) was positive and included constructive criticism and suggestions which will help shape future workshops.

The ceramic artworks that came out of the raku glaze firing generally met participants' expectations. While some results were unexpected and, in a few cases, disappointing, they provided valuable learning opportunities. It was suggested that future workshops begin with a raku firing demonstration, allowing participants to see the process and potential outcomes right from the start. This would help participants better understand the objectives of the workshop and help them make more informed creative decisions as they work towards their desired results.

The planned exhibition of the raku artworks was unfortunately cut short due to the sale of the venue. To ensure the artworks could still be shared with the community, they were photographed and exhibited online. This experience highlighted the need to give exhibition planning and logistics as much attention as the workshops themselves. Future Form & Fire workshops will consider exhibition arrangements earlier in the planning process and include contingency options to ensure an exhibition can still go ahead if circumstances change.

While last year's Form & Fire workshop ran over two days and relied solely on participant fees, support from the Regional Arts Development Fund made it possible to extend the program to three days and engage three artists, two of whom are based in Innisfail. Given the breadth and diversity of the ceramics field, there is strong potential for Form & Fire to continue growing in this direction. Future events could feature three or more artists delivering a range of specialised ceramic workshops concurrently over a three-week period, providing participants with broader learning opportunities and exposure to a wider range of ceramic techniques and practices.

Answers from the nine forms that were completed and returned…

Where did you come from today? Innisfail? Cairns? Other?

South of Innisfail; Japoonvale; Mission Beach; Innisfail; Other; Innisfail; Cairns; Cairns; Innisfail.

What was the highlight of the three workshops for you?

Getting the wild clay; taking pieces out of the kiln; meeting new people; lots of support for beginners; firing; seeing results of firing; firing the clay and dunking them in water; form & fire; learning about the process; firing the artworks and looking for the clay; the firing day.

What could be improved for future workshops?

Some instruction on how to process the wild clay; nothing, I really enjoyed; better clay for making mugs etc; lunch - healthier options; nothing, it was great; more variety of food for lunch; structure of learning - I didn’t know anything about clay before and there were assumed knowledge & terms; no it was great.

Did the workshop meet your expectations in terms of skills learned? Why?

Any chance of some more tuition on handbuilding techniques; yes, beginner & no expectations; yes; yes, learned a lot; yes I learned more about the glazing and getting the crackle; yes; not really, thought we’d be able to make more functional pieces, I didn’t understand it was for an exhibit; yes; yes, covered many aspects.

Were the workshop activities appropriately paced? 

Yes; yes; yes; yes; yes; yes; not really? But understandable weather considerations; more or less; the foraging is problematic as I think most found clays need a degree of processing, which might blow out the time available.

Is there anything we could do differently to improve your experience?

Healthier lunch - more salad & veggies/wraps/sandwiches; no; use clay which can hold water; no; thanks Deb for teaching and well done, but I did miss Ian; the experience was good, but needed more communication & learning; not really; try rolled wet paper ‘gasket’ around reduction bun rims to reduce smoke.

Would you recommend “Form & Fire” to others? Why/why not?

Yes, fun & interesting; yes, really nice Saturday activity at your own pace; yes; yes, I did already; yes it was really fun great for people who don’t do much pottery and gives you something to be proud of; yes loved it; yes already have people wanting to do next years; yes it was fun.

Where did you hear about the Form & Fire workshop?

Local free paper; I moved to the area & I searched “pottery Innisfail” and it came up with a news article online; Facebook; from family who heard from Facebook; we came last year and wanted to come back; invitation - and came last year; I was at Coles & saw the ad on the notice board; by chance in the local paper; from local free paper.

What would be the best month & day & time for Form & Fire 2027?

Any time between May & Sept; in the cooler months, May is great; n/a; any; May on Saturdays like this year; Saturdays, May - Aug; June/July; during the cooler months; June - August, cooler & less rain.

Any final comments? Or ideas for Form & Fire 2027? 

Thanks so much for a fantastic 3 days; thank you for a lovely experience; hoping for a throwing experience; no; thank you; it was lovely to meet new creatives, it was so cool to see how it works; wondering if you could fire some of the wild clays from Babinda and other places before the class to find out if they are suitable for pottery, all the below [ideas for the next Form & Fire] sound great… lots of workshops coming up; it would be good to have a “Rocket Kiln” already available for the firing - would constructing a fresh kiln blow out the time available? Alcohol reduction can produce great results and is visually exciting.