A predilection for the colour blue

I’ve always associated ceramist Julie Apap with the colour blue. It was an unconscious association but now I look through related websites and articles I see that a sprinkling of cobalt, in varying degrees, was a common trait in most of her work, whether it was functional ware, sculptural work or porcelain jewellery.

Also common to the diverse areas of ceramics that she worked in was her precision in making work and ability to convey a feeling of optimism in the final fired item. Her work was subtle and even a fertility wall hanging which I mused over in her studio recently was totally inoffensive and playful, but that’s to be expected as these were also Julie’s personal qualities.

A blue macaroni pot was the work Julie chose to feature on the invitation of Functional by Design. This was to be her last exhibition held in October 2010 with a group of ceramists that she had brought together some four years previously under the name of Clay Art Malta. She believed very strongly in promoting functional ware as art work and not craft, this was the main objective of the exhibition. Her choice was understandable as an up-close view of her functional work shows the amount of attention she devoted to producing each piece with perfectly finished rims and foot rings, uninterrupted curves and appropriately chosen clay types and glaze. Her ability to bring people together through such events was another of her endearing characteristics. It was always in a very sincere fashion with the focus on expanding people’s knowledge of ceramics at heart.

Rows of blue hand-made beads straight out of the kiln feature in her blog on February 18. Although these were made in her studio, she would then take them home and spend hours in meditation threading each bead and pendant into delicate, feminine arrangements. She named her collection of jewellery Soulwork as she felt that working on these “miniature works of art” satisfied an urge and spoke to her soul. She wanted each component of her necklaces, bracelets and earrings to be non-synthetic and wouldn’t settle for plastic being a part of her final creation, everything needed a connection with nature.

Her blue barium matte glaze recipe was the only secret, which I know of, that she had in her ceramics practice.

All other working methods and techniques were generously shared with the numerous students that passed through her capable hands and studio in Msida during the 20 years that she privately taught ceramics.

I believe that her quizzical nature, which was apparent in her working process and fuelled the evolution of her work, also motivated her students.

On the Clay Art Malta website she wrote: “We need to keep our minds open to all possibilities, which is the secret of creativity...”

During a visit to her studio last year she proudly produced a series of samples from one of her advanced classes. Familiar household items such as toothpaste and stock cubes had been taken through a glaze firing in a quest for new unconventional surface decorations.

In her blog entry of January 8 she says: “The time has flown and many students have passed through my pottery. I hope I have instilled in them a love for clay and encouraged them to follow their dreams”. I look to the numerous entries in her Facebook profile from friends, relatives and students following her sudden death on March 16 and know she far surpassed her aims by creating a wide appreciation for the medium she so loved while also gaining the respect and admiration of all those who were fortunate enough to know her.