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Artist Maria Kraatz speaks into a microphone in a bushland setting at the opening of the Artist-in-the-Park program at the Territory Wildlife Park.

Artist-in-the-Park

Here I sit in a monsoon vine forest, not far from the smooth and dwindling flow of a groundwater-fed spring. We’ve not had much rain this last wet season and the earth struggles to provide water for the communities and environments dependent on its flow. It is a magnificently rich and tall forest gracing this small patch of the Territory Wildlife Park.

As an Artist-in-the-Park at the Territory Wildlife Park I had the joy and privilege of spending time in this warm enveloping space. My artwork ‘Spring Flow’ became a permanent installation on the pathway that leads into the main aviary. I spent many hours next to the beautiful spring working on my ceramic pieces, gaining inspiration and to be honest, revelling in that environment and the opportunity I’d been given. I chatted to the people visiting from afar admiring their commitment to exploring this wild place in the hottest of seasons, when moisture fills the air, but not always the ground.

The experience granted me so much and taught me many things. Valuable things not just about making a large artwork or about that particular patch of forest, but also things about working with other artists and people who have passion and energy. If you work hard, do what you said you would, are open to ideas, then opportunity begets opportunity.  If you get the chance, take it, because you never know where it may lead, and you never know what you might learn.

 

Myself, Lyn Lambeth (pictured) and Mel Tribe were fellow Artists featured in the following film, wonderfully shot by Ashleigh Abram for the Territory Wildlife Park. A highlight of my career as an artist.

Artist traces a leaf with a blade on a thin layer of clay beside sculpted clay leaves.
Artist's hand with clay leaf impression.
Contact Maria
A collage of people photos from a video meeting, with one large photo in the middle.

The art of mentoring – a rescue

Sometimes you need rescuing. Sometimes you see a shaft of light that beckons to a more hopeful path. One that sees what you’ve already done in a new light and reframes it, so you can lay down a better path ahead. A foundation, if you will. Someone who invites you...
An array of hand-made custom ceramic tiles featuring silohuettes of leaves and flowers.

When one thing leads to another

Some years ago, I met a friend-to-be. She was painting a large canvas opposite the door to her solo exhibition. She had been a practising artist all her life. She is inspirational in more ways than one. I hoped (and knew) that we would become friends. What I didn’t foresee...
An artist standing next to her artwork in a gallery. The artwork is made of over one hundred ceramic leaves, swirls, gumnuts and fish (all of different colours) laid in a broad circle over black glass.

Reflections Exhibition

In the late ‘80s I took a silver jewellery making course with Marianne Eichenberg at what was then known as the Crafts Council of the NT. But an Ingrid Germanis’ Garden Sculpture course in 2012 showed me how to reclaim a creative life from the middle of motherhood and a full career in environmental science. I knew ceramics was...
Two women artists holding watercolour artworks with an A-frame sign advertising workshops in Darwin's Botanic Gardens.

Botanically Creative Workshops

What happens when people sit and create together under the shade of a gloriously massive rain tree? They arrive sometimes hassled, always with their mind still on the way here, almost ready to steady themselves and use their brushes and colours to bring a drawing to life...
Artist Maria Kraatz speaks into a microphone in a bushland setting at the opening of the Artist-in-the-Park program at the Territory Wildlife Park.

Artist-in-the-Park

Here I sit in a monsoon vine forest, not far from the smooth and dwindling flow of a groundwater-fed spring. We’ve not had much rain this last wet season and the earth struggles to provide water for the communities and environments dependent on its flow. It is a magnificently rich and tall forest gracing this small patch of the Territory Wildlife Park...

© 2024 Maria Kraatz CERAMIC ARTIST