Check out the latest news at Waikato Society of Potters!

TAGS

New kilns, End of year deadlines, Collection of exhibition pieces, Additional wheel throwing class

Kia ora e te whānau

Yet more exciting announcements for you this week – get into the latest news below 😊

O.M.G. New kilns coming!!

These two well-worn and well-loved beasties are being replaced.

These two well-worn and well-loved beasties are being replaced.

You may have heard through the WSP grapevine that we have purchased two new kilns for the club, which are being manufactured right now! We are absolutely thrilled to be in a position to invest in the facilities that keep things running smoothly and efficiently for you, our members and friends.

All going well with shipping and customs, we have a tentative delivery timeline of “around the end of November” for these beauties. There is likely to be some disruption to our normal firing capacity around that time, as we have the new kilns installed and the current kilns 1 and 2 removed.

It’s also a particularly busy time of year for our kiln room, with the Christmas rush and end of year closing not far away. Please keep this in mind when planning your making and firing. We will be working our butts off to get your work through, with all hands on deck to help Margaret with loading, but there could well be glitches and we would very much appreciate your patience and kindness over that time <3

End of Year deadlines

The end of year rush will soon be descending on the WSP kiln room, so we want to give you plenty of notice about our closing, firing and kiln booking deadlines. As mentioned above, we also hope to be installing two new kilns around this time, which may create some delays with kiln 2 out of action for the swap over.

17 November – Last day for private kiln bookings

2 December – Last day for pre-holiday bisque firing drop offs
You will still be welcome to leave work for bisque firing after this date, and we will do our level best to process it, but we can’t guarantee that it will make it through before we close for the holidays.

9 December – Last day for pre-holiday glaze firing drop offs
As above, you are still welcome to leave work for glaze firing after this date but we can’t guarantee that it will make it through before we close for the holidays.

10 December – Last Tuesday evening Play with Clay

14 December – Last Saturday morning Play with Clay

17 December, 5.30pm – Christmas Party! 

19 December – Last Open Studio for the year

20 December – End of year Working Bee and closing day
The studio won’t be in a state for any potting to take place, but you are still able to pop in and pick up your pieces. In fact, this will be your last chance to do so before we re-open on the 13th of January.

Meet the Crew Mondays... on a Friday

This week we’re meeting Sarah Lee – another of our crucial Committee members. Sarah joined WSP in 2017 in an attempt to get back into some sort of creative practice after having her children. She was introduced to clay as an art student a decade or so earlier but at that stage was focused on making jewellery.

Sarah signed up for a beginner class at WSP to train herself to take time for herself again, expecting it would lead her back to jewellery. But those plans were scuttled when the lure of clay took over. “I find working with clay a really great lesson in learning to let go and trust in the process.”

Sarah likes making weird little creatures. She’s a hand-builder and finds it quite relaxing to make very fiddly pieces that are covered in loads of little bits like spikes or tentacles. Moving them is a different matter: “the relaxation is replaced with a lot of swearing.”
The thing she likes most about WSP is the people. She’s made some really great friends through WSP and has found potters to be “the loveliest, most generous and supportive bunch of people.”

The year after joining WSP, Sarah was “sweet-talked” into becoming a Committee Member and our Treasurer, a position she’s held since 2018. As the treasurer she prepares the accounts for the committee meetings each month as well as liaising with the accountant to get the annual accounts review for the AGM. She reconciles all the transactions through Xero and makes sure the bills and wages are paid. Basically, keeping tabs on the finances and making sure that side of the WSP keeps running smoothly. Without Sarah’s valuable volunteer contribution, we wouldn’t be able to keep running as a Society!

Sarah lives in Te Aroha and works at the library there. She’s been teaching pottery at a local school for the last 18 months which she says has been great fun. She would love to spend more time at WSP but living out of town, juggling a couple of jobs and raising a pair of 13-year-old boys keeps her pretty busy. It’s no wonder then that her visits to the studio are few and fleeting. When you do see Sarah around, give her a shout out (and a big thanks for keeping us ticking over!)

Extra wheel throwing class in Term 4

Sadly our Wednesday evening Sculpture Skills class hasn’t been able to go ahead, so we have changed that time slot to a wheel throwing class, lead by the multi-talented Emily Eales. If you’ve missed out on one of the other wheel classes in T4, get in quick and enrol here.

Reminders

Kids’ School Holiday Pottery Programme
Check out the fun times we have planned for the younger ones these school holidays. They’re all listed on our website, for your viewing convenience.

Glaze Technology Workshop – only 2 places left
Saturday 19th October, 9am – 4pm
Understand glaze materials, make a test trial series, analyse results and understand how to adjust recipes to fix issues. Find more info here.

Last Phoenix Wood Firing for 2024
9th & 10th November, plus prep days
Our Phoenix firings are very much a team-effort, hands-on affair, and our last firing for the year will be lead by the fabulous Suzy Dunser! Find more info and enrol here.

Exhibition pieces ready for collection

Masses of thanks to everyone who helped Yasmin pack down the exhibition and transport everything back to the studio – we love you! Any pieces that weren’t sold can now be collected from WSP. You’ll find them in the kitchen under the sign-in desk, and in Josephine’s office.

It really was a fantastic exhibition, and we’re delighted we had so many entries and that we can provide this opportunity to showcase our members and their work. Can’t wait till next year!

Studio Schedule

There’s lots of Open Studio sessions for you again next week – get into them before we kick off the school holiday programme the following week. Here’s how it’s looking so far, but as always, be sure to check the online calendar in case anything changes.

Saturday 28th of September
10am - 1pm, Play with Clay – thanks Tim and friends!

Sunday 29th of September
Closed

Monday 30th  of September
9.30am– 4pm, Members’ Open Studio

Tuesday 1st of October
9.30am – 4pm, CLOSED for School Holiday Programme
6pm – 9pm, Play with Clay – Thank you Margaret and Stacey!

Wednesday 2nd of October
9.30am – 12.30pm, Play with Clay – Thanks Larissa and Mark!
1pm – 4pm, Members’ Open Studio
6pm – 9pm, Into the Wild Workshop, part 1

Thursday 3rd of October
9.30am – 4pm, CLOSED for School Holiday Programme

Friday 4th of October
9.30am – 4pm, Members’ Open Studio

Saturday 5th of October
10am – 1pm, Play with Clay – Thanks Teresa and team!

Sunday 6th of October
Closed

Hei konei rā – see you soon xx



 

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