Dawn Oakford (1958- )was born in Rugby, England, and migrated to Hobart, Tasmania, as a child. She completed a Bachelor of Fine Arts (Visual Art Teaching) at the Tasmanian School of Art in 1979 and then taught secondary school art in Launceston for eight years before returning to Hobart to complete a Graduate Diploma of Art, Craft and Design in 1988 and a Master of Fine Arts in 1990. For her Masters degree, she used slip casting to make jug forms in the shapes of birds decorated with underglaze colours. She now works from a home studio in Lenah Valley, teaching part-time and producing a wide range of limited edition, slip cast tableware, one series inspired by Australian wildlife and another specialty teapot range by art history favourites. She also makes taller, stacked sculptural pieces. Her mark is an impressed circle containing her initials - 'DCO' - with the C standing for Catherine.