About the Artist — Nawsheen of Whistle & Page
Australian Ceramic Artist • Potter • Storyteller • AUTHOR • Creative Mentor
I shaped my first piece of pottery at thirteen — a slightly lopsided vase made in a school art room that smelled of PVA glue, chalk dust, and the raw hope of adolescence. I didn’t know it then, but clay had already begun its lifelong pull on me.
The years that followed took me across continents, through motherhood, through the glittering-but-empty chambers of corporate life, and eventually back to myself. When I returned to ceramics as an adult, it felt like remembering something ancient — a language held in my hands long before my mind could name it.
Today, I’m a ceramic artist, writer, illustrator, and creative mentor based in Murrumbateman, NSW. From my home studio — lovingly nicknamed the TARDIS because it looks tiny on the outside but somehow contains entire worlds — I create handmade pottery, children’s books, watercolour illustrations, and seasonal storytelling inspired by nature, nostalgia, and the grounded rhythm of rural life at The Hyland Hills.
Everything I make is human-made art, shaped slowly, intentionally, and with deep reverence for the land, the seasons, and the stories that have shaped me.
My very first pottery piece from when I was about thirteen.
A Creative Life Reclaimed
In October 2024, I stepped away from my corporate career and devoted myself fully to Whistle & Page. It was the bravest decision of my life — a wholehearted return to creativity, purpose, and the belief that handmade craft still carries cultural and emotional weight in an increasingly automated world.
Just one year later, Whistle & Page was awarded the 2025 Local Business Award for Outstanding Antiques, Arts, Crafts & Gifts — a moment that affirmed not only my work, but the community that values slow living, artisan craftsmanship, and the soulful power of objects shaped by real hands.
Since then, my art and story have been featured and mentioned across regional media, including:
WIN News Canberra (November 2025)
Storylines on Yass FM (Artist Interview, October 2025)
I currently serve as Vice-President of Makers of Murrumbateman and am a proud full member of The Australian Ceramics Association (TACA).
My Artistic Practice
My artistic practice is shaped by a lifetime of crossing cultures, landscapes, and ways of seeing the world. I create pottery and stories in a way that mirrors how I’ve lived: weaving together the places I’ve called home, the ancient crafts that ground me, and the philosophies that remind me to move slowly, intentionally, and with reverence for the everyday.
Growing up between worlds gifted me a lens of curiosity — a sense that beauty lives in contrasts. The softness of clay against the rugged Australian landscape. The discipline of form beside the freedom of play. The nostalgia of childhood, alongside the new life I am building here in Murrumbateman. Each piece I make is an intersection of these influences, shaped by memory, intuition, and the rhythms of the land that surrounds my farmhouse studio.
I am drawn to philosophies that honour connection: connection to hands, to home, to history, and to the stories we tell through the objects we live with. My pottery is an exploration of those ideas — of belonging, of being human, of finding meaning in the simple rituals of daily life. Whether I’m handbuilding a cup or shaping a vessel on the wheel, I’m guided by the belief that human-made art carries an energy that machines cannot replicate: a pulse, a presence, a soul.
My work is slow, tactile and intimate. I embrace the marks of the maker — the soft curve of a thumb, the subtle line left by a tool, the glaze that pools where gravity decides it must. These details tell a story of process and presence. They remind us that beauty isn’t something we “add” — it is revealed through patience, repetition, and a willingness to let the clay lead as much as I do.
Here in my TARDIS studio, I continue to refine my voice as an artist. Every vessel, every children’s book illustration, every hand-shaped form is part of a much bigger narrative: one of creativity after corporate life, of rebuilding identity through art, of choosing a path that feels deeply aligned with who I am becoming.
My artistic practice is, and always will be, a homecoming. A return to the hands. A return to the earth. A return to myself.
Ceramics — Wheel-Thrown & Handbuilt
I work across both wheel-thrown and handbuilt pottery techniques, moving between them the way a storyteller shifts between chapters. Each approach offers something different:
Wheel throwing brings rhythm, flow, and precision — a meditative dance between centrifugal force and intention.
Handbuilding gives me sculptural freedom — a return to ancient, tactile methods that feel deeply ancestral.
My influences are rooted in:
Japanese pottery traditions, especially form, restraint, and reverence for natural imperfection
Bangladeshi sgraffito, an artistic thread tied to my heritage — storytelling etched through layers of slip
The colours and textures of rural New South Wales
Seasonal shifts, which guide not just my making, but my sense of time
Dadirri, the First Nations practice of Deep Listening — a way of observing, reflecting, and creating with presence
I create functional pottery, sculptural pieces, and limited seasonal collections. Each work is shaped, refined, glazed, and finished entirely by hand — meaning no two pieces are ever the same. Every curve and carving holds intention.
Watercolour, Pen Work & Illustration
My illustrations lean into softness and wonder, heavily inspired by Studio Ghibli, nature, and my own sensory nostalgia. Watercolour allows me to express gentleness. Pen sketches allow me to express truth. Together, they help shape the worlds and characters within my children’s books.
Storytelling & Children’s Books
My writing explores gratitude, connection, emotional literacy, and the magic hidden in everyday moments. My first book, Grateful, launched the Blooming Hearts series, with more stories underway.
Why I Create
My work sits at the intersection of art, ritual, memory, and community.
I create pottery to help people slow down — to start the morning with something meaningful in their hands.
I create illustrations and books to offer families gentle, grounding stories.
And I teach workshops because creative expression has the power to heal, steady, and reconnect.
Workshops & Creative Mentorship
My workshops are designed for people who are seeking connection, creativity, or simply a place to exhale. Around the makers’ table at Whistle & Page, I welcome:
Women navigating matrescence, rediscovering themselves through making
School-aged artists, bursting with imagination and curiosity
Retirees experiencing loneliness, looking for a creative home
Neurodivergent makers, who find calm and regulation through clay
Creative beginners, who need permission to play
Each session blends skill-building with slowness, presence, and deep listening. Students often tell me it feels like a few hours away from the world — a pause that their nervous system didn’t know it needed.
Whistle & Page Today
Whistle & Page is home to:
Handmade pottery crafted slowly and intentionally
Small-batch collections anchored in seasonality and nature
Wheel-thrown and handbuilt ceramics designed for everyday ritual
Children’s books and watercolour illustrations for Australian families
Workshops and creative community programs
Art prints, photography, and storytelling
A growing community that values artistry, presence, and the beauty of slow creation
This journey — from a teenager shaping her first vase to a full-time Australian ceramic artist — has taught me this:
Art doesn’t just decorate our lives.
It anchors them.
It reminds us who we are.
And it connects us to each other.
I’m honoured that pieces shaped by my hands now live in homes across Australia.
From my hands to your heart and home — this is Whistle & Page.
