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He decided early in his career that his interest lay in making exhibition pieces rather than production lines. He has considerable appreciation of the skills of production potters even though he has had no experience in this field himself. Because of this early choice, he has now mounted in excess of 70 solo exhibitions and participated in more than 150 group exhibitions in Japan, Lithuania, the UK, Canada, France, Croatia, Spain, Portugal, Turkey, the Czech Republic, Korea, Taiwan, the USA, Egypt, Germany, Italy, Poland, New Zealand and in all States of Australia.
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| Daly refers to his work mode as 'working on the edge'. He does not do test pieces, but works directly with and on the work destined for exhibitions, saying that in this way he finds a special flow with the work and its development. This means, of course, that he is usually out of his comfort zone, and must be strongly disciplined at all times. His focus, too, is different than it would have been if he had just made production pots every day. Working in this way, he finds that things happen which cause him exclaim, 'Wow! That's where I want to go' But adds, 'I must be careful not to respond too quickly and miss fully developing these serendipitous aspects of the work along the way.'
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| Always a lateral thinker, Daly now has such a large body of work behind him that he has no hesitation in going back to past work and using from it whatever suits him at the time. He views this as having all the work in a circle and says he has no qualms in unconsciously going backwards or moving freely within this circle, selecting elements from earlier periods. He calls this "re-mining" his past. He is now using gold leaf again after not having used it for eight years. He was missing the quality of finish that gold and silver leaf give when fired on a glazed surface. He had previously used it for 12 years, along with the lustres for which he has become renowned. And although he is not currently using lustres, he says that he will return to the lustred surface.
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| Regarding the different aspects of his work, he says none is more important than any other. 'The form, the glaze, the decoration and the way they work together, they all hold equal importance. It's the whole thing. Harmony and the dynamics of a piece will determine the way I decorate.' However, Daly has never thought of himself solely as a decorator and is very surprised if others see him this way. He maintains that decoration has only ever been a part of the pot and should work towards a balanced whole. When discussing Daly's work, one can only speak in
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| absolute superlatives. This 21st century alchemist performs totally magical feats with earth and fire. He is a master thrower who makes anything from the tiniest of forms to pieces up to one metre tall. He works in a range of traditional forms, through to thrown and altered, and sculptural pieces. He is highly skilled in the use of a full spectrum of glazes, resists, lustres, etches, gold and silver leaf and enamels, and at every exhibition produces ever more compelling pieces. His decoration has ranged through low-keyed beauty to the dramatic effects of pure coloured glaze-on-glaze, through to the dreamy opulence of silver and gold leaf and the languorous depth of illusory spectral images sensed through the surfaces of his lustred forms. The enamel lines on these latter surfaces seem, at times, to suggest the darting flight of some exotic bird, and at other times rare and beautiful flowers, or even the calligraphy of some long-lost language. 'Sometimes I like to do quite extravagant things,
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| just to tease the viewer and make them react.' An example of this is the purple forms he made during the mid-' 7Os, but then discovered that the intense purple-satin colour existed in nature, in the brilliantly coloured Paterson's curse, or Salvation Jane. Daly says that his lime greens and oranges may also provoke a strong reaction from the viewer. He enjoys all glazes, but he believes that lustred surfaces create superb illusions. 'Multiple layers of glazes, when fired, can give wonderful effects, like looking into water. The colours change as one walks around the pot; light changes the piece. I see such astonishing illusions of surface with lustres; they have intangible colours and shimmering effects.' When living in Melbourne he liked looking at the Rialto Towers throughout the day, because they appeared to change colour, rather like Monet's hay-stacks. 'If I only had two elements to work with,
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my choice would be light and water. Water is constantly changing colour owing to the way it absorbs, refracts and reflects light.' Daly has always been an admirer and collector of other ceramists' work and has amassed a collection of over 500 pieces, ranging from the ancient Chinese Sung Dynasty through to the most contemporary of current work. But although he enjoys them and what they have to offer him spiritually, he does not seek to make pieces like them. He follows his own creative spirit. However, it is becoming harder to find a niche in the market for the special one-off works, and he says that many of his peers are also experiencing this problem. He
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| has noticed a distinct change occurring in the marketplace right now, and although it is at times difficult to work out why, perhaps it is because older buyers are retiring and probably already have all the pieces they want. 'The younger buyers are not interested in ceramics. They want a lifestyle of "this goes with that" and self-indulgent pieces that fit into the new style living. The next generation are not interested in acquiring these quality pieces as they did in the past, and although there are some excellent craft galleries now, they are fewer in number.' As a result of these trends, Daly is now accepting more corporate commissions.
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