Alma Shanahan (1923-2015)

A Victorian potter who came to live at Clifton Pugh’s Dunmoochin art colony at Cottlesbridge, on Melbourne’s outskirts in 1953. Unable to join the co-operative proper, as she was a potter, not a painter, she built her house at the top of the hill on Barrenong Road, where she was later joined by neighbours Peter and Helen Laycock. She trained for a term with Peter Laycock but was otherwise self-taught, basing her practice on the teachings of Bernard Leach. After Pugh’s death in 1991 she became the longest standing Dunmoochin resident. On 4 April 2010, she was one of 100 artists honoured at a ceremony in Eltham for making a difference to the arts in the Diamond Valley and beyond. Her works are incised with her full name.