Richard Brooks (Australia) ceramics

Richard Brooks was born in 1951 in Sydney. In 1971, after studying at East Sydney Technical College and gaining certificates in ceramics, he travelled to England to start a three year apprenticeship with David Leach, and set up his own workshop in Torquay in 1973. On his return to Sydney in 1974 he spent a year as an apprentice to Shiga Shigeo and then gained further experience working for six months at the Royal Doulton Craft Studio in Australia. Richard brooks established his first workshop, Booralie Pottery, at Terrey Hills, Sydney, in 1976, making high-fired earthenware pots. He took on a number of students over a period of four years before moving to larger premises at Duffy's Forest in 1980 and changing production to stoneware and porcelain. In 1989 he moved to the North Coast of new South Wales.