Summary

Plate decorated by Helen Ilich at Guy Boyd studio in East Bentleigh the late 1950s. Helen migrated to Melbourne from Croatia in 1953 with her two children, her husband already having arrived. She had always wanted to be an artist but rarely had the opportunity or parental support to pursue her passion. This continued in Australia but she found a degree of artistic outlet by working in three ceramic studios around Melbourne - Ellis, Isobel (a small independent business) and Guy Boyd's studio which she particularly enjoyed. At the Boyd studio she painted many ceramic pieces with Australian landscape and Aboriginal motifs, produced for the domestic and tourist markets. Helen later joined the Heidelberg Artists' Society and taught painting at home, producing many works of her own.

Physical Description

Ceramic plate with painted scene of a seascape. There is a dirt track leading down to the sea and two leafless trees in the foreground. There are three sailboats on the sea and seagulls flying overhead and a line of cliffs in the distance.

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