​Most potters at some stage in their career have struggled with s-Cracks in the bottom of their pots, and have asked the question what did I do wrong or how did this happen. Antoinette Badenhorst shows her pottery students one of the biggest culprits for this clay problem.

Antoinette is an online instructor at TeachinArt and presents the Understanding Porcelain online class. She presented hands-on porcelain classes in South Africa, Canada, and several of countries is Europe, as well throughout the United states of America.

​​I have been doing ceramics for about 8 years – both sculpture and wheel/hand built pots under the initial tutelage of the wonderful Midge Johannsen at the Sculptors’ Society Gold Coast but now I teach from my own home studio and am Treasurer of the Society. I developed an early interest in raku after having done a workshop with the Gold Coast Potters Association of which I am also a member. Since then I have built and owned 3 raku kilns and do at least two or three firings each month. I did the Alternative Firing online course of Marcia Selsor and found it very useful since I also intend doing regular wood firings later this year.

​I have entered a number of ceramic competitions and exhibitions and have taken part in several two and three people shows locally. Last year I won the Tony Palmer Sculpture Award for my piece Hark the Herald Angels.

I like to mix and combine materials. I started weaving natural fibres onto raku. From there I moved to combining natural timber with raku and now I use found metal objects with raku. I find raku goes with everything! I am very fortunate in that I have a wonderful partner who is happy to weld or wood turn as required.

​​I teach a popular monthly class for the CWA (the Country Women’s Association) and after Easter I will start a regular weekly raku group at the Society’s teaching studio nearby.

I have held a couple of raku workshops up here at Bliss for the Society which have been popular. Everyone seems to love raku!

I guess the thing I love most about it is the immediacy of the art along with the (often) unexpected results you can get. I am not noted for my patience LOL.