1947 - present

Dr Patsy Hely is an accomplished and much awarded ceramic artist based in Canberra. She taught at Southern Cross University (1989-2000) and the School of Art, Australian National University (2002-2014) and as well is a writer and an art curator. She studied ceramics at East Sydney Technical College – now the National Art School; gained a master degree, with distinction, at Southern Cross University; and completed a PhD entitled ‘Ceramics and the Articulation of Place’ at the Australian National University (ANU).

Patsy’s work is held in collections at institutions such as London’s Victoria and Albert Museum, Canberra’s National Gallery of Australia and Sydney’s Museum of Applied Arts and Sciences (Powerhouse Museum).

To create her ceramic work, she initially used earthenware clay, under-glaze colours and slips (clay slurries). Over time, she became interested in the medium of porcelain, relishing how light reacts with it and with her handpainted imagery.

A keen bushwalker, birdwatcher and observer of her environment, Patsy harmoniously explores and integrates textures to create delicate watercolour images of Australian birds and plants on exquisite porcelain work. On cups, she creates delicate plant-based protrusions rather than handles so she can explore how the holder interacts with any one cup in a tactile way. In 1983, after securing a grant for creation of two mosaic-tile murals for the northern and southern ends of the Bondi Pavilion foyer, the Pavilion Cultural Team decided to commission Patsy and artist-illustrator Helen Leitch to collaborate on the project.

To create the tiles for placement on the compositional grid, Patsy and Helen cut curved, free-form lines through sheets of clay. They used themes and images that were completely different from the usual stereotypical ones associated with Bondi Beach, to enhance the visitor’s perception of it.

On the foyer’s northern wall, she and Helen depicted sea creatures, and on its southern one, they depicted Australian native plants that were once common to Bondi’s bushland. The artists meticulously labelled each plant by name. The over-arching aim for the painting of both murals was to give ‘warmth’ to the Pavilion’s dark interior. The two beautiful creations graced the Pavilion foyer from 1984 to 2020, when Waverley Council began extensively renovating the site. Images courtesy the Waverley Library Local Studies Collection.

Images courtesy the Waverley Library Local Studies Collection.