The Journal of Australian Ceramics, Vol 65 No 1, April 2026
 
FOCUS: HEALTH & GROWTH
CLAY IN TRAUMA-INFORMED PRACTICE
REGENERATIVE CERAMICS
CULTURAL APPROPRIATION IN CERAMICS
TRANSFORMING A SMALL KILN TO WOODFIRED
 
What does a healthy ceramics community look like? How is it that this magical material shifts our thinking, heals our bodies, and creates social connection in such a universal manner? What are the considerations we should be prioritising to develop a positive and culturally respectful practice? Is it time (or perhaps it is well beyond time) to be questioning the power structures within clay culture? What are the realities of people working in the discipline of ceramics today, and how do they feel about the varied hierarchies and the significant hurdles involved in developing skill, technical knowledge, and creative thinking?
 
In these pages, we hear from ingenious makers who have quite literally rebuilt their world from the remnants of angry bushfires, and others who are working in therapeutic practice with clay, or growing and healing within community. We see inside practices that are holding space for big questions about existing alongside difficulty and crisis, and the startling and moving work that results. We hope you enjoy reading these stories of health-focused care and creative growth. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this Journal for everything you do to bring these stories to life.
 
Editor: Montessa Maack
Assistant Editor: Alison Smiles
 
 
 
Contributors to JAC 651: Yuhana Nashmi, Liane Fenwick, Samantha Mackie, Malcolm Greenwood, Tina Wheatley, Oriana Julie, Sarah Muir-Smith, Chantelle Baistow, Scott Elk, Louise Boscacci, Giuseppe Matteo Pappalardo, Jane Orme, Pam Gray, Rod Dilkes, Ian Dowling, Duro Jovicic, Kenny Pittock, Riti Malik, Gabrielle Powell, Daniel Lafferty, Sarah Christie, Robyn Phelan, Gillian Hodes, Maria Kraatz, Joanne Linsdell, Donna McDonald, pattie beerens, Wee Shiang Tay, Fiona Cuthbert O’Meara, Alexander Mamas, Gabriela Mello & Anne Kwasner