Cover note: The background image is Ellen’s father’s ex libris, flipped to make the letters semi-abstract forms. Typeface is Mostra Nuova. Body text is Arno Pro.
May it be a camera, a lump of clay or a sheet of paper, Ellen Hansa manages to create a story. At the age of fifteen she tried to start a career as a photo journalist, an impossible task for a young woman in the late 1950’is in war-torn Vienna. She studied photography and with her masters’ degree under her collar, tried again. Having been rejected once more, Ellen spends the next years in photographic studios both in Vienna, Oslo and later in Melbourne.
After her marriage and three children, Ellen tried her luck turning clay into pots. A few years later Stanyers’ Pottery was born and for many years the business flourished.
After her husband’s death Ellen withdrew to her bush block. A writing group in the local Neighbourhood House drew her back into society. She started telling stories again and compiled a number of short stories called “Stories around the Table”. Then she gave herself the big challenge to write and publish a fictional novel, Esther’s Violin.
Her work can be viewed here.
Seedpod, ceramic sculpture by Ellen Hansa