sydney.

Clay comrade and partner-in-crime, Adriana Christianson, is curating an exhibition of handcrafted cups later this year - The Cup Collaboration. 34 potters from across the globe have been paired up to create two cups together and one of their own.

I'm fortunate to be one of those potters! The AH-mazing Niharika Hukku is my partner. We met three years ago at the Eveleigh Market during an Australian Ceramics Association event, where we bonded over our love of illustrated pots and birds, particularly Australian natives! Niharika paints exquisite, highly detailed, almost photo-realistic designs on wheel-thrown porcelain.

We'd both been watching rainbow lorikeets in recent weeks, so they became the subject of our collaboration. Niharika welcomed me into her studio whilst I was in Sydney this week. Each of us threw cups in our preferred forms and swapped them to paint. 

Niharika works in Clayworks Cool Ice porcelain, a new clay to me. Thankfully it threw and trimmed beautifully, which made the new-studio-new-wheel experience pretty pleasant! We spent hours talking, sharing stories of our cultures, travels, families, work, social media (Niharika's Instagram following sky-rocketed this year after a featured post, so she has a unique experience of it!), love, thriving as an artist. The gorgeous men in her life, husband Tintin and 5 year old son Shay, were also lovely to spend time with and made me feel right at home!

[an excellent moment; coffee, Alt-J and a teeny piece of dark chocolate in readiness to paint.]

[my illustrations on Niharika's cups - the curved ones - and my own straight-sided cups.]

[a sneaky photo whilst I was on the phone to my love!]

[Niharika's practice run. Amazing huh.]

These two days, along with some time spent with other friends this week, have fed my soul. That's why I travel, that's what I'm seeking. The magic doesn't always happen, but this time the stars aligned.