Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s

242 Under a Modern Sun: Art in Queensland 1930s–1950s Carl McConnell , Vase 1957 CARL M c CONNELL Carl McConnell was born in Chicago and studied at the Art Institute of Chicago (1935–39) and art schools in Dallas, Texas and Memphis. 1 He first travelled to Queensland while serving in the US Navy during World War Two (1943–46). McConnell returned to Brisbane in 1948 with his Australian-born wife Bernice (Bunny) and enrolled at the Central Technical College under a United States training scheme for war veterans. 2 He subsequently held various positions at the College, lastly as instructor in sculpture and pottery (1971–74). A committed ceramicist and a generous teacher, McConnell is regarded as one of Queensland’s most significant potters, and influenced a generation of artists, including his son Phillip who became a master potter in his own right. McConnell’s practice was defined by his adherence to the English and Japanese traditions exemplified by Bernard Leach and Hamada Shōji who shared a studio in St Ives, Cornwall, England. 3 In McConnell’s 1977 review of Leach’s A Potter’s Boo k (1940), he explained that the publication: Changed my whole outlook to clay work and gave me a new direction . . . It introduced me to the use of various plant and wood ashes in glaze composition but more than anything it made it possible for me to transition from earthenware to stoneware and later to porcelain. 4 In the 1950s McConnell began producing stoneware, which fires at a higher temperature than earthenware and is more robust, and created some of his best work in the medium after establishing his studio in the Brisbane suburb of Pinjarra Hills in 1958. Made just before McConnell relocated, Vase 1957 is a fine example of the compelling effects he achieved. Notes 1 Glenn R Cooke, Carl McConnell: Master Potter , Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, 1986, p.11. 2 Glenn R Cooke, QAGOMA research files. 3 Glenn R Cooke, Carl and Phillip McConnell: Queensland Studio Potters , Queensland Art Gallery | Gallery of Modern Art, Brisbane, 2012, unpaginated. 4 Cooke, Carl McConnell , p.28.