Top L-R: Clara, Fiona Bunce, Ruth Schirley.
Bottom L-R: Alison, Cath Knapton, Gina Walden.
Kia ora creative geniuses!
What an incredible effort it's been getting Shared Earth ready — box after box of exhibition pieces has been delivered across to ArtsPost this week, all thanks to our amazing creative community! A massive thank you to John & Trudie Mackintosh, Kristen Almond and Bronwyn Wright for all the ferrying back and forth, and to Yasmin Davis, Jenni Taris, Janet Smith, Riann Ahmadi and Annelize du Toit, who are busy installing the show as we speak (and if we've missed anyone who's mucked in too — thank you, you know who you are!).
A couple of closures to note for your diary: we're closed all day this Friday for a Diploma workshop, and closed all weekend for the Aaron Scythe throwing workshop — a huge yay to the lucky folks who snaffled a place on that one, what an experience that will be!
Apologies also for no newsletter last week — it's been a full-on couple of weeks here! So a double thank you goes out to this week's AND last week's Play With Clay and Members' Open Studio volunteers: Margaret Raine, Trudie & John Mackintosh, Yasmin Davis, Kristen Almond, Teresa Gibbison, Lydia Farrell, Shadae Owen and Patsy Hall — you're all flipping legends ❤️
And while we're on the subject of thanking volunteers — every single time we put the call out for help, whatever the job, we get the most wonderful response, and we are so grateful. What a beautiful community we have 😍
As always, check the online studio calendar before you head in, and read on for all the latest news...
Shared Earth Opening Night — Get Ready!
Mark your diaries, beautiful potters — the Shared Earth Opening Preview Evening and Awards Ceremony is nearly here!
Friday 4 September, 5.30pm at ArtsPost Gallery
Come along to celebrate our 2026 Annual Members' Exhibition, cheer on the award winners, and soak up a room full of Waikato-made, member-made mahi. If you can, please bring a plate of nibbles to share — it always makes the evening extra special when we can nosh together.
We can't wait to celebrate with you!
The Beauty of the Beast — with Fiona Tunnicliffe
Saturday 10 – Sunday 11 October | 10am–4pm both days
You asked, and we listened — Fiona's back for round three! Over two days you'll learn the fundamentals of animal anatomy in clay, building construction skills and confidence you'll carry well beyond the workshop and into your everyday practice. All levels welcome, no experience necessary.
Member price $295 / Non-member $339 (includes clay, brayer, and bisque + cone 6 firing for one piece). Spaces are limited and this one always sells out, so don't wait!
Help Build an Anagama Kiln at Driving Creek
Fancy helping grow the wood firing community in Aotearoa? Driving Creek Railway, the much-loved pottery and conservation charity on the Coromandel, is raising funds to build a traditional Japanese-style anagama kiln — and with Aaron Scythe (yes, our own Shared Earth judge and this weekend's throwing workshop tutor!) lending his expertise to the build, it's a project close to home.
The kiln will support Driving Creek's Artists in Residence programme and open up new wood-firing opportunities for visiting potters from around the country. Their PledgeMe campaign runs until 9 October, with rewards including pots made by Aaron Scythe and the Driving Creek pottery team, fired in the kiln's very first firing.
This is an external fundraising campaign run by Driving Creek — enquiries and pledges go directly to them via PledgeMe, not through WSP.
Rototuna Students Seek Pottery Volunteers, Artists & Ideas
Our own David Kenny (Pottery with an Engineer) has been working with Rototuna Senior High School on a lovely new initiative, and they'd love some support from our clay community.
Rototuna Senior High School is setting up a dedicated art space through its Puna Wānanga programme, where students spend a full Wednesday each week across Terms 2 and 3 designing and creating projects that serve the local community — think fundraising for charities or student-led classes and workshops, all built around a health and wellbeing theme. Pottery is one of the core mediums, with real interest among the students in wood firing and in sourcing and testing local clay.
They're looking for:
Volunteers to mentor students or help run a session
Artists interested in collaborating, running a workshop, or talking to students about their practice
Students keen to shadow at your studio, even for a day
Ideas — community pottery projects, found and local clay, sustainable firing
Potters interested in exhibiting alongside student work
Nothing is locked in yet, so this is a great time to help shape it. Get in touch if you're interested, or just want to hear more.
Contact:
David Kenny on ukhamba.nz@gmail.com, or
Micah Edwards at Rototuna Senior High School, micahedwards@rhs.school.nz.
