Margo Stephens
The artist Margot Stephens, whose works are signed Margot, was born in 1964. She discovered the qualities of working in clay as a medium for sculpture around the age of 16, which also corresponded with her growing interest in drawing. Margot attended the City Art Institute in Sydney where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in the visual arts.
Early in this period she was able to join a Sydney University group study tour of Italy. It was during this visit that Margot was to discover an old area of ceramic colour and design techniques which inspired her to return some four years later. This next venture to Europe was a personal study which incorporated most of Europe’s famous galleries. While in London Margot worked as a freelance commercial designer and antique engraving colourist.
As a finale to this period she studied in a Ceramic Studio in Deruta, Italy for six months, the techniques of Maiolica. With this new skill Margot hoped to combine her drawing, colour skills with sculpture. This type of innovative exploration is a part of a new world movement with the Arts and Ceramics.
Her works take all forms from humorous caricatures, to creative expressions of the artists psyche. Various clay bodies are explored within the works as Margot believes the clay to be part of the personality of each work. Each piece is therefore an exciting new discovery - an entity in its own right. This exclusiveness is a contributing factor in her works’ growing in value.