Ceramics by H.R. Hughan and Judy Lorraine

WAS Gallery is celebrating the life and work of its family member, Judy Lorraine (1928-2023) alongside the work of "Buzz" Hughan (1893-1987). The two were longtime friends and collaborators. In 1972 Lorraine bought an old property on the main street of Wedderburn, Victoria. Here she and Hughan set up a ceramics studio, established a shop called the "Bakehouse Pottery", dug local clay, collected eucalyptus ash from distilleries in the area for glazes and worked there and in Melbourne part time.

H.R. Hughan is considered an Australian master potter. His work has been collected by galleries around Australia and by the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

Hand coloured photo of Buzz Hughan in Glen Iris studio by Anne Lorraine, 1979

Judy Lorraine was also a renowned and innovative potter and is represented widely around Australia. She was an artistic spirit, accomplished potter, architect, mentor, teacher and member of the WAS Gallery family with an active career that endured for over 50 years.

Over the decades Judy undertook many public art projects across Victoria and also in Adelaide and Darwin. Her most significant project was the Benalla Ceramic Mural on which she worked for 27 years until its official launch in 2010.

WAS Gallery holds a considerable collection of work by Judy Lorraine from the 1960s to the 2010s.

Judy Lorraine in her Wedderburn studio, 1980s.