Fergus Stewart
Fergus Stewart was born in Aberdeen, Scotland. He became interested in pottery in high school, and trained as a studio potter through the apprentice system. In 1981, he was offered a position at the Beaufort Pottery in Perth, WA, by Ian and Jennifer MacRae, with whom he had previously worked in Scotland. In 1984, he set up his own studio at Glendalough, WA, building a wood-fired kiln there as the first stage of a life-long interest in wood-firing. The following year, he helped Greg Crowe build a wood-fired salt kiln at Hovea. In 1988, he moved to Canberra, working first with Ian Jones at Gundaroo, NSW, then setting up a studio at the Canberra Business Centre. In 1992, he moved to the Strathnairn Ceramics Workshop, which he had helped to set up. From 1997, he began to travel back to Scotland regularly to work and teach and, in 2002, returned there permanently. His works may be marked with an impressed 'FS', an incised 'Stewart' or an impressed bearded face mask or 'Bellarmine'.
