Elder Wing of Australian Art: Plain English Tour
Work 14 of 15

Gladys Reynell was born in Glenelg, South Australia, in 1881.

She was South Australia’s first artistic potter.

A potter makes objects with clay.

Gladys was taught how to paint in Adelaide by Margaret Preston, a famous artist.

Gladys and Margaret went to Paris in 1912.

They wanted to learn more about European art.

Gladys learnt how to make pottery in London.

In the First World War, she showed injured soldiers how to make pottery.

In 1919, Gladys started South Australia’s first pottery studio.

A studio is a place for making art.

On her pottery, Gladys scratched pictures of native animals or simple line drawings.

Her way of working is called sgraffito.

It is a way of scratching into the clay to show another colour underneath.

One of Gladys’s earliest pottery works was called Emu Beaker.

It was made in London in 1917.

It was made from South Australian clay.

She wanted to make her work look like it was handmade.

Gladys did all parts of her work herself.

- She dug up the clay from the ground.

- She made the clay into art.

- She baked the clay in an oven to make it hard.

Gladys liked to show Australian plants and animals on her pottery.

She also liked to use Australian clay.

Gladys said that using Australian clay to make pottery was

‘the most delightful thing on earth’.