I’m drawn to ceramics that have a sense of humour, and Kelly Jessiman’s classic Hellenic shapes are brimming with it. It’s her handles –– wonky, lopsided, elongated –– that bring the whimsy. Her surface decoration has a painterly quality, as though each vessel is a canvas. It was a dear artist friend that first introduced me to Jessiman’s work. A friend who brings great humour to her own work. All the eccentricity, colour and contradiction that make a vessel (person) interesting are present in these vases. Jessiman fires her work in a shed in her garden, which is the dream.