Maria Rickert tells :

I was born in Germany on a dairy farm. We lived with three generations together in one house. That made life much easier, as we all helped each other - tending the animals, milking the cows, all the chores that go with life on a farm. Best of all was harvesting time. It was so much joy to smell the grass in the paddocks, the fresh hay, and to see all the barns full to the brim for the cold winter ahead.

I was the oldest child in my family and my day was dedicated to looking after my younger siblings. As a child I read many books about people in foreign countries, about their cultures, their traditions, their livelihoods and their nature. My parents did not want to listen to me when I told them as a small child, "One day I am going out into the big world." In my heart I knew I wanted to meet people in their natural environment - even as a child the cities did not call me.

The day came when I was 26 and travelled for the first time to Australia. I was amazed to see the red colour of the earth and the blue, blue sky, and so many nice, friendly people. What I really loved was the simple and uncompromised lifestyle that people lived here.

When we came to Coonabarabran we stayed at the foot of the Warrumbungle Mountains. I loved the stillness the night held. There was no noise in the air, but inside me was a heartbeat that had found its home.

We bought the nearby property ' BARKALA ', and with that a dream of living in the outback came to life. We brought up our three children Johannes, Bernhard and Eva as well as Telline, our foster child, started our pottery from scratch, and worked and worked.

Since the early days many things have happened. We have been through fires, drought and family tragedy; but that heartbeat does not stop, to live a true life in its reality.

Johannes Rickert shares his thoughts:

Ever since I was a little kid I've always liked the idea of being a pioneer. Maybe I got this from my parents, who came out to Australia when I was four years old. It was a new world for us, a big change, but that was exactly what they were after.

Living on a farm and going to correspondence school all my life gave me the great opportunity to live very close to nature and to do all manner of things with my hands. We were always self-reliant, and the family as a whole really pulled together - whatever one couldn't do, another could, or learned to - we had to, because for many years our contact with the outside world was a bit erratic. I remember one time when I was about 13, Mum and Dad were so busy working that we hadn't gone to town for three or four weeks. I was dying from lack of chocolate, so I got up early one morning, saddled my trusty horse, and rode in myself. Riding there and back took all day, and when I tied the horse up outside the local supermarket I bet it got some funny looks! Because of this self-reliance, I learned many skills to satisfy my inquisitive nature, and also because I was the oldest and had to help Dad around the farm. Skills such as leatherwork, metalwork, mechanical work, working with animals, and surviving in the bush became second nature to me.

School and I never really got along, I was much more interested in working with my hands, so after Year 10, doing a pottery apprenticeship with my father seemed like a great opportunity. I got to stay on the farm, learn an ancient art with a real master, and help support our way of life. After I finished my apprenticeship I felt the need to go traveling for a while and experience new things, which I did for a couple of years, but I always felt pulled home to Barkala.

In all my travels, I never found a better place to be myself, than this valley surrounded by rocky hills and mountains and millions of acres of bush, further than the eye can see. Its not an easy life, building up a sustainable farm and working creatively with every material we use, from clay to timber, but there's a freedom to it I've never found anywhere else. This is a place you can put your heart into. Heaps of great people have come out here over the years and felt the same way, helping in whatever way they can, purely for the love of this place and its people.

We've come a long way with this farm and our pottery. But I still see so much potential in it, so many things I can still achieve. My dream is to see this place as an enduring inspiration to others for many generations to come. People have lost something in this modern world and I see our place as a monument to the fact that life doesn't have to be all about money, or material things, or wearing the right clothes. This place is about caring, working for the love of it, expressing yourself through creativity, and working with nature rather than against it.

Bernhard Rickert shares his thoughts:

Ever since I was ....

Julie Squire tells :

Ever since I was ....