Dusty Pots and the good news

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The Nugget
November 29, 2024

★MEET DUSTY POTS★

Dannielle “I tend to go all in” Wilkinson with the one and only, Dusty.

You've probably seen Dannielle Wilkinson and her pup Dusty at the Castlemaine Artists Market.

She's the one with the cups that say Fuck Off. It was love at first sight when I spotted those cups.

Dannielle's work is both political and joyous, enshrining the wise words of icons like Jane Austin, Julia Gillard and Dolly Parton.

Like many artists in our midst, Dannielle’s journey began at Lot 19. She signed up for a short course at Castlemaine Clay, in search of a creative outlet.

"I just loved it. Within eight weeks I'd bought a wheel."

She continued tinkering on weekends, when she wasn't working.

"Then people wanted to buy my stuff, which I thought was bananas! I'd be out at a cafe, drinking out of my own cup and people would say, 'Oh my God, where can I get that?'"

Initially, she sold her creations to people she knew, made to order. That's all she had time for, while toiling full-time in a public sector job she no longer enjoyed. 

That's when the universe gave her a nudge. An old friend reappeared in her life, who had recently quit his corporate job and started a market garden. It was like he had arrived to show her the way.

"I went out there to see it and was like, this is incredible."

He asked her if she'd like to work at the farm and she responded like so many women when offered an opportunity: "That's crazy, you don't want me!"

But it was time for a change, and she eventually decided to take a leap of faith.

"I'd been working in the public sector for a long time. I'd had a really interesting and, I think, pretty impressive career. I landed in this area that was just, not a lot of fun. I didn't realise until I started working at the farm how disrespectful my workplace was. It made me realise; I had to get out."

Twelve months ago, she did it. Dannielle now divides her time between the market garden and her kick-ass pottery business.

"I want to celebrate women, but I also want to encourage women to fight and be angry. It feels really good to have found a way to do that,” she says.

“Maybe, for some women, just having a cup that says Fuck Off can be enough and that's great. I'm happy to help you do that and push that out into the world."

Dannielle has lived in Castlemaine for ages, but she says that pottery has helped her connect with the community.

"My work is targeted at a very particular audience. From the very beginning, I wanted to be selective about where I was selling. I don't want to spend my weekends explaining to people why my work is the way it is."

That has not been an issue in Castlemaine. People get it and have welcomed the Dusty Pots message.

"I've been working at the Castlemaine Artists Market and had people message me on Instagram, saying 'I'm not there yet, do you still have this cup, can you please put it aside for me, I'm coming, I'm coming!' It's been really amazing to see the local support and love for my work."

Dannielle has also been embraced by the local ceramics community and invited to show her work at the upcoming Unfathomable exhibition at Lot 19.

She is joining four other female artists in exploring themes that are often too raw to talk about in mainstream society.

Dannielle's work focuses on the relationship that women have with their reproductive system.

She has created a series of vases and also grown flowers that she will harvest for the show, which includes an interactive element. 

"I want people to feel that they can come and make an arrangement in a vase, using those flowers, that represents their relationship with their reproductive system.

"Those arrangements will sit for the duration of the exhibition. The changes that then occur with the flowers, to me, will represent the hormonal changes that women go through in their menstrual cycles, and more broadly. We will see some flowers continue to bloom and blossom and others will start to fade, so hopefully it will sort of have this beautiful effect."

Yes. I 10/10 think it will be beautiful.

  • Unfathomable opens 7 Dec at Lot 19 and runs until 22 Dec.

  • Find all of Dannielle’s market dates here.

  • Or order anytime, through her online shop.

❀BAD NEWS / GOOD NEWS❀

The Castlemaine Cannons work dang hard to deliver a basketball program for the community. So it hurt to discover that the club’s game-day iPads had been stolen.

These devices were taken by individuals who use this very stadium – a place run by the community, for the community. 💔

-Castlemaine Cannons

The club immediately received offers of help from local people, as well as basketball associations both near and far.

Castlemaine’s Blue Sea Fish & Chip Shop quickly donated the money to buy two brand-new tablets, allowing the Cannons to get back on track with running games.

“We’re so lucky to live in a town that rallies together in times of need, lifting each other up and proving how strong and connected we are.”

-Castlemaine Cannons

♡˖ EVENTS ˖♡

𖥔 EVEN MORE EVENTS 𖥔

December in Castlemaine is overflowing with activities. To see the full list, including the New Year’s Eve partays, head on over here: