John Wilesmith - a profile

When he left high school, English-born John Wilesmith trained as a ceramic caster at a reputable china factory in Herefordshire, England. Two years later, and still only a teenager, John took his skills to New Zealand to work under contract for the subsidiary company in Hamilton.

Upon completion of the contract, John remained in New Zealand and started his own business making and supplying moulds to the then booming hobby ceramics industry. He eventually sold the successful business and during one of his trips back to the UK worked as a figurine caster/assembler for the famous Royal Worcester Porcelain.

John has resided in Tasmania since 1993 and, with the help of his partner, again built a business in ceramics, designing and making ceramics for the tourist market, specialising in detailed animal and bird studies. The hard work was starting to pay off when John was struck down with a brain haemorrhage (aneurysm) in late 2001; needless to say, it put a halt to the business operations.

It has been a long, slow road to recovery; John no longer makes ceramics on a mass production basis and now works in a more limited capacity making one off pieces.

'After the aneurysm I am grateful that I have retained my creative abilities, even if at a more limited capacity.'