Gail Nichols – Reflections
Gail Nichols is an Australian ceramic artist, recognised internationally for her innovative approach to soda vapour glazing. Through extensive research, leading to completion of a PhD at Monash University in 2002, Gail developed her unique vapour glaze aesthetic and technical approach to materials and firing. Gail makes vessels with soft organic forms and lush dimpled glazes that appear to ooze out of the clay itself. 
Her book, Soda Clay and Fire, published by the American Ceramic Society, has been heralded as a leading text on soda vapour glazing technique and aesthetics.
Gail was born in the U.S.A. in 1953. She completed a mechanical engineering degree at Michigan State University in 1976, and worked as a Peace Corps in Malaysia for two years before migrating to Australia, where she began her ceramic studies in Sydney. Her studio is now located on a rural property near Braidwood, New South Wales. She teaches at the School of Art, Australian National University in Canberra.
Gail Nichols has been voted 2nd on the international stage of ceramic excellence during her prestigious career and has her works in the permanent collection of all the major galleries in Australia including the National Gallery as well as private collections worldwide. She also is in collections in galleries in America, Denmark and Korea.
“My aim as an artist is simply to create beautiful objects. Not just pretty things to look at, but a powerful beauty that quietly overwhelms - revealing something beyond the ordinary.” Gail Nichols
