A re-birth for ghostly figures

WHEN abstract artist Tomas Lineker first began selling his work in recent years, his first customer was ceramicist Ruby Pilven.

“I ended up doing a joint exhibition with her at her pottery studio, and we became friends,” Lineker said.

As the man behind a series of brightly coloured ghost paintings created with acrylic and spray paint, and resin, Lineker came up with the idea to replicate the figures in ceramic form, and had the perfect contact to approach for assistance.

“I wanted to create colourful ceramic ghosts, and Ruby is very good at colour and gold lustre on ceramics, so I asked her if we could do some together,” he said.

Pilven said she was excited by the chance to bring his 2D canvas imagery to 3D life as part of the Ghost bébés series.

“We’ve been hand-building together, using the roller and pinching method, using bright stoneware colours that mimic the vibrant colours in his paintings, and finishing them off with lustre which I use for the gold in the eyes,” she said.

Usually working with paints and brushes, Lineker said the “hands-on” nature of shaping clay is something he is enjoying.

“There’s more physical labour in it,” he said. “I’ve got to put more thought and effort into it, and slow down a bit.

“I think the ghosts are special, because there’s a lot of hard work that has gone into them.”

Lineker said it’s not always easy for artists to find other creatives that they gel with stylistically, but partnering with Pilven, a peer and a friend, has been easy.

“I’ve always wanted to collaborate with someone but there’s just not that many opportunities in Ballarat to do that where you match up with someone really well,” he said.

“But I’m always sending Ruby ideas, and she’s sending me ideas. We’re always bouncing stuff off each other, so this project has been really cool.”

Pilven said Lineker brings concepts to the table that she would never come up with otherwise.

“He has unusual and fresh ideas, which in clay, I wouldn’t normally think of doing,” she said. “I’m a teacher as well, so it’s nice to help someone bring their ideas to life.”

Lineker and Pilven recently produced a batch of 18 Ghost bébés which were almost a sell-out at Sydney’s Affordable Art Fair.

The pair are now producing their next batch and are looking towards more projects together.

“I hope it’s a friendship-long collaboration of us making things into the future,” Pilven said.