July 2024 Newsletter
Club Notes and Updates
Mike Atkins – A WPA Stalwart
After a major heart attack, Mike Atkins (86) died in Auckland on 2 June 2024.
Mike was an extraordinary character and personality who made a tremendous contribution to the club for more than two decades. He was made a Life Member of the club in 2011.
He was already a technician for the Wellington High School pottery classes when he joined us. At that time he made videos of schools which were conducted by visiting potters at the rooms for club use and further reference by the participants. He has always been closely associated with the committee; sometimes as an elected member,mostly as a co-opted member. He was involved in a number of tasks - not so well known was the distribution of the newsletter (in its paper form) for a number of years.
One his great passions was raku firings which were a regular feature in the club’s annual programme. He was the person principally responsible for organising the firings for many years: both domestic (at the club rooms) and public (in conjunction with Ceramicus exhibitions at the NZ Academy of Fine Arts). The latter was a great way of generating public interest in pottery and attracting new members. He also loved creating and testing new raku glazes.
He looked after our kilns for years and was always willing to come to the rooms to solve a problem - sometimes as often as 4 or 5 times a week to keep the kilns running. (And not only for our club.) He was always prepared to go the extra mile and helped many individual members with their kiln problems. He also repaired throwing wheels when they were misbehaving.
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In 2004 Richard Stratton proposed that an Anagama kiln be built for which Shige Ohashi produced a design based on his knowledge of such kilns in Japan. There was a small problem, namely finding a place to build it. An enterprising person called Mike Atkins brokered the idea with Graeme and June Houston that it be built on their “Te Haunui” property in Horokiwi. They graciously agreed and thus began a new adventure. Mike became a core member of the relatively small team that excavated the kiln site, acquired the kiln bricks necessary for its construction and built the kiln as well as the shelter that protected it from the elements. One of his curious passions was making adobe from cow dung. He also assisted in creating firewood for the kiln (a recurring and time consuming task) and was skilled in the use of a chainsaw. He was also adept at stacking firewood.
The first firing was in 2006. In this, and subsequent firings in which he participated, he always cheerfully volunteered for the midnight “dog shift”. Keeping a comprehensive
photographic account of all facets of the anagama firings and, in particular, the pots that emerged from the kiln, was always viewed as being important. Mike was the principal photographer up to and including the 10 th firing. The maintenance of the kiln, cleaning kiln shelves and the like is a recurring feature of anagama life and Mike was always there to do the boring but necessary stuff.
Such was Mike’s passion for wood firings he enthusiastically participated in the creation and firings of the “Mad Hatters” salt kiln (a non-WPA venture) adjacent to the Anagama kiln.
Mike was a highly amusing and entertaining character, although not always intentionally. One such example, among many, was his unfortunate use of an apparent shortcut to the Anagama kiln. This involved ducking under the low bargeboard on the side of the “Mad Hatters” kiln shelter before the present wall was installed. On a number of occasions his arrival would be signalled by a loud bang and an even louder expletive. He would appear, via the shortcut, with a bloodied forehead. When asked subsequently why he had failed to duck sufficiently to avoid injuring himself, he explained that it was because his eyes were deep seated in his head, or words to that effect!
In 2015 Mike moved to Auckland but returned as often as he could to Wellington. He would attend Anagama kiln openings and participate in firings. Mike was a foundation member of a little known group of older WPA potters called “The Ancient and Decrepit Potters’ Guild.” He was an excellent cook and its members savoured his contributions to Guild feasts, often prompted by his visits. They and those who knew him in the WPA also enjoyed his companionship, commitment, tales, sense of humour and sense of the ridiculous.
-Alan Ross, Vera Burton
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Volunteer of the Month: Humphrey E.
Humphrey is relatively new to pottery. Originally being dragged in by his neighbour Kate Ford who felt he needed a hobby. He has jumped into wheel throwing head first and is starting to make some nice big bowls. He has also embraced Tuesday mornings and often brings in something sweet for us to share.
Humphrey seems to love to solve a technical problem and has come up with some innovative and clever ideas for fixing broken things at the club rooms. Where would we be without our Mr. Fix It? (Answer from Admin: Honestly? Probably locked out of the club!)
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Your Potter’s Mark
Have you registered your potter’s mark? Many people haven’t! Soon pots without discernible marks will be rejected for firing. Marks can be your name, initials or a logo; it can be etched, stamped or written in oxide [remember oxides are prone to smudging prior to firing]. But having a potter’s mark is only the first step—the next step is to register it! The Potters’ Mark Register may be found to the left of the diary desk in a perspex holder against the wall. There’s a stamp pad provided (if that helps). Please log your mark under the first letter of your family name.
The Kiln Team needs to be able to identify your pots for a few reasons:
1) if you ever need anyone else to collect your piece for you (because you are sick or away, for example), this is by and far away the most accurate way for anyone to identify what they are looking for—especially if you are uncertain of your glaze results.
2) if we need to trace those pots that have been damaged, or have caused damage, this is how we can figure out who you are.
3) if you become a famous potter, this is the way people will be able to track your (early) work when they start collecting it.
This is being brought up as we have two mystery pots that we need to find the owner(s): see above. If either of them are yours, or you know who’s they are, please email admin at wellingtonpotters.info@gmail.com.
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Now Available in our Clay Shop: Witgert Supernova
A hand builders’ delight, this randomly swirled combo of brick-red, white and black can produce varied stunning vistas depending on which way one slices and/or rolls the clay. Easy to manipulate with good strength provided by 25% grog of up to 0.5mm particles. Rated at max. 1200C, it fires just fine to 1220C (Cone 6) although some may prefer the colour palette achieved at 1185- 1190C (Cone 5).
Shrinkage at 1200 deg (ex bag up to Cone 5/6) 11%
Water absorption at 1200 2.1%
10kg $49
July Special $44
Get to our Clay Shop through the ‘Shop’ page in HelloClub.
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The WPA Pottery Throwdown Returns for 2024!
Saturday, 17 August | 5:30 - 8:30
Save the date and join us for this hilarious evening of community, chaos, and kai. The Wellington Potters' Throwdown will include several individual events including the ‘Blind Bowl’, the ‘Towering Cylinder of Chaos’, and ‘Can You Handle It?’, as well as two team events!
We want both spectators and competitors to join in the fun. This will be a members-only event, but competitors may bring a support person! Want to bring a friend? You’ll have to compete.
BYO drinks and nibbles to share. A gold coin koha will be appreciated with funds going towards club resources.
WANT TO HELP? We need prize donations, volunteers to make medals for the events, and volunteers to help on the night. If anyone is interested, please email James Dickman at Jdw.dickman@gmail.com
Let’s get ready to Throwdown!!!!
Members’ Gallery
This month’s ‘Members’ Gallery’ is more of a ‘Student Gallery’. Here is one of Chris Dunn’s ‘Beginner's Throwing’ classes with all of their hard work. Great job, team!
Is there something you’ve made that you want to show off? If so, please email your photos (and descriptions, if you’d like) to wellingtonpotters.info@gmail.com.
Thank you to Chris for his photo.
DID YOU KNOW…?
Glaze Room update and etiquette
NEW! We have an electric banding wheel for the glaze room! It’s actually a mini pottery wheel but it is now in the glaze room so that you can rotate your pot as you pour glaze, allowing you improved evenness. It is also perfect for making concentric lines around your pots and has other decorative applications. It is very simple to operate, has forward and reverse and variable speeds which can be set and altered at the touch of a button so that you don’t have to use the foot pedal.
Rules for use
Only place it on the former waxing table (this will avoid any possible mishaps with electric cords across the floor). It must never be used in the spray booth.
Consider covering the wheel head with a shower cap to ease the cleaning process. (Bring your own.)
When using the pouring technique never overfill the ‘splash pan’; if you have a pouring accident, stop immediately and clean up as overflow could get into the motor and wreck it.
When you have finished, use the pink handled silicon spatula to reclaim as much glaze as possible from the splash pan back into the glaze bucket.
Rinsing a sponge repeatedly, thoroughly clean the machine, dry it, then return it to the bench beside the microwave and unplug it at the wall.
Glaze room etiquette
Please don’t hog the space. If you are first in, spread out if you must BUT you are required to bunch up as more people arrive. Tables are now divided with a band of red tape as a guide to space allocation. Six people should be able to be accommodated. Please be thoughtful, kind and considerate. Consider using the facility at ‘off peak’ hours if you need extra room.
An Entrée for July
If you have any favourite recipes that you’d like to share, please email wellingtonpotters.info@gmail.com.
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This recipe submitted by Kay F., from the lazycatkitchen.com.
INGREDIENTS
• 18 medium chestnut mushrooms
• olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves, 2 diced finely + 1 whole
• coarse sea salt
• a pinch of dry rosemary (optional)
• 2 medium shallots, very finely diced
• 5 fresh sage leaves, finely chopped
• 1 sprig of rosemary, leaves finely chopped
• few thyme sprigs, leaves picked
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• ¼ tsp black pepper
• 2 tsp white / shiro miso
• zest of 1 lemon + 1 tbsp lemon juice
• 35 g / ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs (GF breadcrumbs for GF version)
• 2 tbsp pine nuts or chopped walnutsDIRECTIONS
1) Preheat the oven to 200° C / 390° F.
2) Clean the mushrooms with a damp brush or cloth (do not wash them) and cut out all of the stems and save them for the stuffing.
3) Coat the caps in 2 tbsp of olive oil (you can skip the oil if you wish but the mushrooms will be a bit drier) and place them on a baking tray, gill side down, and bake for about 15 minutes, flipping them to the other side halfway through.
4) Crush the whole garlic clove with a pinch of coarse salt and dry rosemary in a pestle and mortar. You could also slice the garlic thinly first and crush it on a bread board with the side of a knife. Pound the garlic into a smooth paste and then add approximately 2 tbsp of olive oil to it to create a garlicky oil.
5) Meanwhile dice the mushroom stems really finely.
6) Heat up 15 ml / 1 tbsp of oil in a medium frying pan, add diced shallots and fry them off gently until almost translucent, stirring often.
7) Next add in diced garlic, chopped fresh herbs, nutritional yeast, black pepper and ¼ tsp of salt. Continue frying until the shallots are translucent and garlic is fragrant.
8) Next stir in diced mushroom stems. Fry off until the stems are cooked.
9) Once mushroom caps are done baking, lower the oven temperature to 170° C / 340° F.
10) Mix the baking juices into the miso paste. Mix diluted miso paste into the stuffing mixture before adding in lemon zest and juice.
11) Stir in breadcrumbs and pine nuts making sure they are evenly distributed.
12) Finally stir 15-30 ml / 1-2 tbsp of olive oil through the mixture. Adjust the seasoning and check that the mixture is moist but not overly soggy.
13) Brush the insides of the caps with the garlic oil you made earlier before stuffing them with the mixture.
14) Bake the stuffed mushrooms for about 15-20 minutes until the tops are browned.
PSAs from the Club Admin
Kia ora, koutou! Just a few announcements this month. Please read below. Ngā mihi!
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Cubbies!
Everyone — and we mean EVERYONE — on the cubbies waitlist has been emailed about a spot. Check your email and your spam folders! At this stage it is first-come, first-served for replying to the email to secure a cubby.
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The mystery of the missing chemicals
A couple of weeks ago, it was discovered that the garage door was accidently left unlocked and four 2.5kg bags of (powdered) glaze chemicals went missing. Did you happen to move them? Or, if you snagged them thinking they were fair game, could you please return them?
If they were stolen, not misappropriated or moved, if you’ve seen anything suspicious–or have any info on the missing glaze chemicals–please email Admin at wellingtonpotters.info@gmail.com.
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Hurrah! Claimed! Keep your eyes peeled in the August / September newsletter for all the tiles together.
One more kiln tile up for grabs!
The new kiln tiles are starting to appear, and they look amazing! (Kiln tiles are the little prop signs that go on the kiln to make people aware it is firing/hot.) But, one more kiln still needs claiming: Pēpi.
REMEMBER: firings for your kiln tiles are free! This has been a really fun little project, and once all the tiles are complete we’ll show them off in the newsletter.
There were no ‘Suggestion Box’ items this month.
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There were no ‘Suggestion Box’ items this month. |
Upcoming WPA Events
TONS of things going on in July but our classes and events will taper off in August to make time and space for Anagama. In the meantime, take advantage of all the winter workshops and events! Events are in calendar order below, click on the images or buttons to learn more.
Slab Building Bootcamp
Two Nights: 3 & 10 July | 5:30 - 8:00PM
ONLY TWO SPOTS LEFT!
Looking to learn handbuilding tips and tricks? This 2-part course has been designed by Peter Rumble to teach the basics of making and preparing quality slabs for use in hand building as well as the various techniques required to build components.
The bootcamp is not about “making stuff”, it is about equipping you with the skills to "make stuff". However, by the end of the course you will have learned the skills to make multiple shapes, including a cuboid with base and lid, a cylinder, a cone and a tetrahedron.
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Bot Pots Meet and Greet
8 July | 6:30 - 8:30PM
Mel from Bot Pots and Clay Studios and pottery tutor, Chris Southern, will be at WPA from 6:30-8:30pm on Monday 8th July to talk pottery! They will have some new products to look at, including the GR Pottery Forms and Lee Tools Bat Systems, as well as a bunch of test pots with some of their funkier coloured clays and Abbots, Terra-color and Coyote glaze combos.
There will be nibbles - and possibly some bad pottery jokes - so come along and check it out.
This event is free and open to all members. Please RSVP so that we know how many to expect.
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Raku Club ‘Show and Tell’
12 July | 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Ever wonder what all the raku fuss is about? Come join the Raku Club members and learn about the process as they show off their successes and (sometimes spectacular) failures, display raku works by other potters, and explain why the process of moving glowing red pots to flammable materials (and then putting a lid on them) is SO. MUCH. FUN.
Bring a drink and nibbles to share and come celebrate the end of a successful Raku season.
The Raku Club’s ‘Show and Tell’ is free and open to all WPA members. Please RSVP so that we know how many people to expect. See you there!
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Throwing and Glazing Teapots
13 & 20 July, and 20 Aug. | 9:00AM - 4:00PM
In this 3 part course, Tanaya Shirsikar will guide participants through the process of throwing, constructing, trimming and glazing teapots. This course is suitable for intermediate to advancing throwers. You must be able to centre at least 800g and capable of throwing specific shapes.
SESSION OVERVIEW:
Sat 13 July | throwing all components of a teapot(s)
Sat 20 July | trimming components and construction
Sat 10 August | glazing your teapot(s)
The deadline to sign up is SATURDAY, 6 JULY at NOON.
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Bring Your Child/ren
19 July | 9:30AM - 12:00PM
Share your passion for clay with the child in your life!
Bring your child/ren along to play with clay. No tutors are provided by WPA though so you are to be responsible for your child's behaviour and safety while in the rooms. You must provide all materials and fully supervise their activities, cleaning up thoroughly at the end of the session. Finished art may be fired at WPA - for this event only.
Please RSVP for this one-off event. Max of 10 WPA members (no more than TWO children per member, all ages welcome).
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Friends and Family
26 July | 5:00 - 9:00PM
Join us for our popular Friends and Family evening.
Bring along ONE friend or family member to the club to play with clay! Christine Winbush will be your host for the evening, however you are responsible for providing clay, overseeing what your guest does, and making sure you have cleaned up after yourselves. You are welcome to bring snacks and a drink to enjoy, too. Open any time between 5pm-9pm.
The event is free to attend but please SIGN UP so that we have an indication of numbers expected on the night.
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Tealight Candle Houses
27 & 28 July | 9:30AM - 4:00PM
WEEKEND WORKSHOP: Back by popular demand!
Brighten your life (and maybe someone else’s, too) by making one or two little tea light houses over two days. You can use provided templates or do your own thing with the 2kg of clay provided. Peter Rumble, hand building maestro, will guide, jolly and cajole you into delving the depths of your building and decorating creativity to make the most of this extremely popular 2-day workshop.
Make up to 2 houses (or structures) during the workshop.
Community News/Events
Click on the images below for more information.
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Links to other clubs’ newsletters
Ceramics New Zealand national news can be found here, with the Wellington / regional news here.
Gear Homestead Woolshed Potters’ July 2024 Newsletter can be found here.
Have some content for the newsletter? Email it to wellingtonpotters.info@gmail.com.
The deadline for the next newsletter is 25 July.
Nga mihi for doing your “plusONE” so that WPA stays a thriving space for us all.
(Note: the missing macron above is not a typo, but a disappointing formatting quirk of the website platform.)
