Ellen Hansa-Stanyer (1942- ) was born in Vienna. After studying photography in Vienna and working as a photographer in Norway for a time, she came to Australia to visit her brother in 1964 and ended up settling in Melbourne. In 1967, she and her new husband Ray Stanyer, also a photographer, took up pottery as a hobby. Three years later, they moved to Castlemaine and established Stanyers Pottery. Working as production potters for the next 25 years, they supplied shops and galleries and held exhibitions at the Scotch Pie House, a shop, gallery and later sculpture garden which they opened in Maldon in 1972. In 1996, they retired, building a mud house on a bush block just outside of Maldon. Both continued to work with clay, broadening their remit to ceramic sculptures which they displayed in a number of joint and solo exhibitions. Ellen's work may be marked with a painted 'Ellen Stanyer' or 'ES'.