Demark-based ceramicist, Rachel Falls Williams, finds inspiration everywhere

The ceramicist, artist and mum of three grew up near Dalwallinu, among the sheep and wheat of her family's farm.

"Some of my earliest memories are sitting behind the sewing machine watching mum sew," Ms Falls-Williams said.

"There was always craft, family members knitting and crocheting.

"I think it's that kind of make-do attitude and approach that comes from being a bit remote and not having access to everything you want."

After attending boarding school in Perth, Ms Falls-Williams studied at university where she met her husband Sam, but after the birth of her first child she realised her heart was in another place.

Denmark had just been a holiday destination up until 14 years ago when the family moved to the area.

Now on a 50-hectare property, Ms Falls-Williams has maintained an agricultural connection for her kids, with a small hobby farm consisting of pigs, goats, ducks and chickens.

"I think it was having children that made me want to get back to that smaller community and space," she said.

Ms Falls-Williams described herself as being a maker for as long as she can remember, starting out with textiles - dyeing, weaving and sewing.

In high school, she was introduced to ceramics, and it deeply resonated with her - but she was only practising the craft casually.

"It was a curiosity, I didn't take it any further than that," Ms Falls-Williams said.

By chance she met Jonathan Hook, a ceramicist based in Denmark with 50 years of experience and knowledge behind him.

"He offered for me to come up and learn from him," Ms Falls-Williams said.

"It was such an amazing opportunity and I was so into it that I quit my day job and started doing ceramics full time."

Ms Falls-Williams said it was rigorous to go from a casual ceramicist and former school teacher to being mentored, old school style, by one of WA's best.

Initially her learning involved lots of repetition, and for the first year she didn't fire anything in the kiln.

"It took a certain discipline which was worth it, I could see the rationale behind it," Ms Falls-Williams said.

"I think when you're sitting alongside someone who's been doing it for 50 years, it makes you realise how far you have to go.

"I also didn't want to put more stuff into the world that wasn't up to a certain standard."

Ms Falls-Williams finds inspiration everywhere, especially within nature.

She's always full of ideas and said if anything, she has to reign herself in, sometimes finding it hard to sit down and focus with one idea.

Now that she's been trained in the production of pottery, focusing on consistency, she's able to play around with her style and be a bit more "organic" in her process.

Often Ms Falls-Williams notices similarities between her pottery and colours, textures and shapes found in nature.

"Quite often it's not even a conscious thing, the colours and the aesthetics just seeps in," she said.

"I think there's so much online content on Pinterest and Instagram, and I realised that it just overwhelms me.

"Everything I need is in the landscape around me."The practicality of her pottery is perhaps an ode to her farm upbringing.

"I have dabbled in painting before, but I keep coming back to things with a purpose," she said.

Of all the things to make, vases are not only her favourite but also are the most popular.

Her work can be found at the Butter Factory Studio in Denmark, which is popular with tourists and locals.

Ms Falls-Williams said while she was learning under the guidance of Mr Hook, she documented her progress online, and it built a curiosity among locals.

"People wanted to buy stuff but I wasn't able to provide it," she said.

"So when I had my first exhibition, it went really well - I think there was this pent up interest which was pretty amazing."

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