Kia ora! We've got a bumper issue this week, check out all the news and notices below.
H&S Reminder
Please remember that even though it’s sweltering, we still need to wear covered shoes in the studio. There’s a myriad of heavy and sharp things you can drop on your feet here and it’s a requirement in our Safe Studio Policy that all users wear covered shoes for protection. Thanks!
Term One Classes
Classes start on the 5th of February and we still have places available in these classes:
Beginner Wheel Throwing
Mondays
9.30am – 12.30pm
Hand Building for Kids and Teens – 4-weeks, starting 12th Feb
Mondays
4pm – 5.30pm
Wheel Throwing, Altering and Surface Decoration
Wednesdays
6pm – 9pm
Animal Sculpture
Thursdays
9.30am – 12.30pm
Hand Building *1 place left!
Thursdays
6pm – 9.00pm
Introduction to Pottery – 4 weeks
Fridays
6pm – 9pm
Beginner’s Wheel Throwing Taster – 4 weeks
Sundays
10am – 1pm
Find more info and enrol here:
https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/waikatopotters
The clay cupboard is chocka!
We’ve received 2 tons of clay from CCG and Mac’s Mud this week, so the clay cupboard is full to the brim again. We’ve got all your Mac’s Mud and Primo favourites, plus some speckled, black, and cement-coloured clays. There’s still a few bags of interesting Feeneys and Walkers kicking around too.
Many thanks to our AR, Julie for unloading a full ton by herself! And to member, Neil Hartley, who helped us unload the second ton.
Raku Club
David Kenny is running the first Raku Club for the year on Saturday the 24th of February. Sign-ups are live now on the Events Pronto page:
https://www.eventspronto.co.nz/raku-Feb24
For those who are new to the Raku firing experience, the process involves rapidly heating bisqued and glazed pieces to around 1000 degrees in a gas-fired drum kiln, pulling them out while they’re still red-hot and plunging them into sawdust or paper to create a reduction environment. There’s flames, smoke and glowing-red pots – it’s the rock and roll of pottery! Of course it’s all done in a very safe and controlled environment, and the best thing is you get your finished pots back the same day. Timings and all the info you need are included in the Events Pronto listing.
Meet the Crew Mondays ...on a Friday
If you’re following our Facebook or Instagram pages, you’ll see we’ve started a new series called Meet the Crew Mondays. Our aim is to introduce our Staff, ARs, Committee, Volunteers and Tutors to you. For those who aren’t on the socials, we’ll repeat each post here so you can get to know the crew too, and recognise the faces you see in the studio.
This week we’re introducing Sateva Marx, one of our Artists in Residence. Our ARs help out by doing customer service, and studio duties one day a week. Sateva works on Monday’s and can often be found recycling the huge amounts of clay that we keep from running down the drains, so it can be reused. It’s a dirty job, but essential to the running of the studio.
Sateva was introduced to WSP by a friend who brought her along to the Wednesday Play with Clay sessions. After a year or so she was hooked and started bringing herself along. In her AR practice, Sateva is inspired by @floriangadsby and @thrdfloor, and is working on her wheel-throwing skills, with goals to make sets of various types of table-ware.
Outside of her practice, Sateva is a new Hu-mum to two cutie-pie kittens, and also a house-plant fanatic.
Studio Schedule
We’re open this Saturday the 27th for Play With Clay (thanks Tim!), but closed on Monday the 29th for Auckland Anniversary Day. The rest of the week we’ve got the usual Play with Clay sessions and lots of Members’ Open Studio sessions. Check out the studio schedule here:
https://www.waikatopotters.co.nz/studio/
Opportunity for Emerging Potters
The Rick Rudd Foundation is pleased to announce that the 2024 Emerging Practitioner in Clay Award is now open.
For 2024 the value of the Award has been increased to $15,000. Information on the award and conditions of entry are available from www.quartzmuseum.org.nz and quartz.award@gmail.com
The judges for the 2024 award are Anna Miles, Bronwynne Cornish, and Rick Rudd.
Entries close 4pm, Sunday 30 June 2024
Member exhibitions
A couple of our members have exhibitions coming up they’d like to let you know about.
Susannah Salter is taking part in the Boon Sculpture Trail:
“In Norris Ward Park on 30/31 Jan, as part of the Boon Sculpture Trail, I'm constructing a figure on the park and low firing it in situ. It's made from local clays and other materials and I'll effectively be drying it out with a woodfire overnight in an experimental process. If members would like to observe or support me on the day, they would be most welcome. There will also be some conventionally fired small sculptures as part of a gallery show, as well as free walking tours of the 23 sculptures around the CBD. I'll be leading one on 17 February.”
Sybille Schlumbom is one of the artists exhibiting in Traces:
Blue Gallery, 3 Anzac Parade, 27th January – 10th February
“My main practice is in printmaking and I use ceramic in that context- but sparingly. It would be nice if some familiar faces might find their way to the closing event; and there are some interesting works to see and concepts to be discovered.”
Clay Traps
Recently our outdoor clay traps were upgraded with some impressive mahi from Larissa Milsum, David Kenny and our friends at the Hamilton Community Men’s Shed. They now have lids and the old plastic trap that needed replacing has a new concrete tub fitted.
The process was documented and explained in video by David, and he’s provided a link to his YouTube video on the subject which you may find interesting – particularly if you’re thinking of setting up your own studio.
