June 2023 Newsletter
General club notes & updates
Give a warm welcome to our new administrator
WPA would like to welcome Heather Baltzley to the new role of Administrator for the Association. Some of you will recall that at our 2022 AGM the Association approved a part time role to support the Committee and the club activities for six months. The Committee has been working hard to get this role off the ground.
Heather joins us on 1 June 2023 and will spend some time as a link person in the rooms and some time behind the scenes supporting the club's functions. Watch out for her “office hours” two afternoons a week when she will base herself out of the library for her admin position. The Committee, and Heather, will advertise office hours as soon as they are confirmed and she will also be available via wellingtonpotters.info@gmail.com.
Of course, Heather is a member of the club, too. When you see her covered in clay outside of office hours, know she is there as a member and not in her official role. Please save your club-specific questions for office hours (or email them to her) to answer when on the job.
She looks forward to seeing you all at the studio!
Our new kilns are getting up to temperature
Our new and newly-named kilns (Obi, Watson, Biscuit, and Pēpi) are happily ensconced in the kiln room and Briar Sheerin and Holly Connolly are putting them through their paces. The kilns are operating well and the connected phone app is proving quite the novelty - being able to check in at any time and any place to see what temperature the firings are at.
You may also have noticed kiln names at the top of the HelloClub calendar. If you’re not a private firer, you can happily ignore those and, by clicking on Club Activity, filter those pesky kiln bookings out of sight.
Things to be aware of in the kiln room are:
Scales and EFTPOS machine are directly ahead when you walk in
Light switches have been transferred to beside the entry door
Blue (Cone 5) and Yellow (Earthenware) to-be-fired shelves are directly inside the main door
Green (greenware) and Red (Cone 6) to-be-fired shelves are freestanding
Pots unloaded from firings will be on the same shelves as prior to the reshuffle.
These changes mean that members that are not part of the kiln team or a private firer will have no need to go into the kiln area, enabling those people to do their work uninterrupted.
We are close to starting our club firings again (likely to be around Wednesday 7 June, tbc) but private firings and refresher training will take a little longer to get underway.
We are also reviewing our training programme for those wanting to get their kiln licence in the future. The training will be split into three parts:
The first session will be a one evening workshop that provides more theory about kilns and electric firings. Anybody who wants to understand more about pottery can attend this workshop and you don’t have to continue on and do the practical sessions.
Those that DO wish to get their kiln licence will then have two further practical courses to attend.
We’ll provide more information about this training in the next newsletter.
In the meantime, a massive thank you to the kiln replacement team for working so hard to get everything installed, and a thank you to our members for your patience while this happens.
The magic of fire and ash - 18th anagama firing
Come and join us at our upcoming Anagama information evening on Wednesday 21 June, 7pm to hear all about our annual anagama firing.
Whether you're new to pottery or wood firing or an old hand, we'd love to see you. The Anagama Team will share all the information you need to know and have examples of previous work to show the effects of the flames on different clays and with different glazes, or even no glaze at all! Because the firing reaches temperatures of 1300 degrees celsius, you MUST use the right clays and glazes. We'll talk about this in more detail on the night. You will also find out how you can volunteer to help load or fire the kiln - an elemental and exciting part of the process you don’t want to miss!
Your bisque-fired pots need to be submitted to Anagama Receiving Day on Sunday August 27 - to make this deadline, they will need to go into our club firings no later than Monday August 21 (remembering that your pots don't always make it into club firings the first week they are submitted) and be glazed by Thursday August 24.
We do ask you to SIGN UP for this event so we know how many people to expect - and remember the magic number, you must use clay that can be fired to 1300 degrees celsius.
Cubby Renewal
Thanks to everyone who communicated quickly with the Cubby Coordinator and paid their invoices on time. If your cubby invoice is unpaid as at 1 June and we haven’t heard from you, your cubby will be emptied on Monday 5 June.
There are still some people on the waitlist for a medium size cubby, if any more cubbies become available after 5 June, Kate will be in touch.
Cubbies currently available:
5 x extra small cubbies (lockable cubbies closest to the mezzanine stairs) - $30 per year.
5 x glaze room cubbies - $100 per year.
Please email Kate at wellingtonpotters.cubbies@gmail.com if you would like to rent one.
Club glazes for club firings only
Reminder that club glazes are to be used in club firings only. Our glaze team works hard to have a variety of glazes available for our members. The costs of glazes are recovered through the club firing fee. Please do not abuse this privilege.
Do not use club glazes for pieces taken off-site for firing.
Do not use club glazes for private firings or pieces for commercial sale.
Being a great club member
Thanks to everyone that came and helped out at our recent Cleaning and Maintenance Bee. It was fantastic to have so much enthusiasm on tap and we completed so many tasks.The event was such a success that we have already scheduled our August Bee so, for those that like a lot of warning, mark Sunday, August 13 in your calendars.
Volunteering is part and parcel of being a member at WPA. Remember that the easiest way you can help contribute is by doing your +1. Perhaps this month you could choose a couple of the following items to add to your clean up routine:
Have you done your +1?
Wash some dirty dishes or put some clean ones away
Empty the kitchen compost into the top carpark compost bin
Clear some no longer needed bats off the drying shelves, wash and put them away
Wipe down the sign-in table, the clay table or the lunch table
Refill the toilet paper from the supplies above the shower in the pugmill room
We also have some specific volunteer tasks we’d like a hand with:
Admin/Organization:
Scan past-WPA paperwork and file it logically in Google Drive
Update permissions to control access to Google Drive folder
Review and refresh of club policies to minimise duplication, ensure processes are up to date, and get them into a tidy Google Doc format
Club Operations:
Support Julie Harrington with the maintenance of our wheels
Prepare descriptions of all our clay in stock and confirm inventory (potentially load this into our future webshop)
Communications
Graphic design help with creating graphics as needed for social media, our website, and Hello Club
Next project is the opportunity to help promote and brand our “+1” volunteer task initiative
Basic website admin, such as adding event details onto our Upcoming Events webpage, loading up monthly newsletters, or future webshop updates
Photographers willing to help take photos at upcoming events
Newsletter curation or organization
If you think you can help chip away at these tasks, please add your name to this document or email wellingtonpotters.membership@gmail.com.
Upcoming & Ongoing WPA Events
Friends and Family evening
Friday 2 June, 5:00 - 9:00PM
Join us for our popular Friends and Family evening. This is your chance to bring along ONE friend or family member to see what ceramics and pottery is all about. 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 tidily after yourselves. You are welcome to bring snacks and a drink to enjoy too.
The event is free to attend but please SIGN UP so that we have an indication of numbers expected on the night. Looking forward to seeing you there!
Wellington Potters’ Throwdown + Potluck
Saturday 17 June, 6:00 - 8:30PM
Are you a potter in search of glory? Feel you have the skills to battle the best? Can you throw blindfolded?
Join us for an event like none other!! The Wellington potters association will be hosting their first ever Pottery Throw Down. Across the evening we will host a series of competitions aimed to test pottery skills and ability. There will prizes and glory for those throwing it down.
Alongside the event we will have a potluck and a BYO. So please come along, bring some kai and drink, meet some of your fellow potters and cheer on those throwing it down!!
Teapot Making Workshop with Richard Stratton
Sat 24 June - Sun 25 June, 9:30AM - 5PM
Sign up for this weekend workshop with Richard Stratton where you will learn the fundamentals of teapot design (both thrown and thrown + hand built), and the fundamentals of how to construct teapots. “As a working Potter for the last 30 years- the teapot has been my mainstay piece I’ve constructed for several years, over this time I have learnt the in and outs of making firstly a functional teapot and then various ways of decorating it. Some of which can take of a week to finish building. In this short weekend school we will cover the basics” - Richard Stratton
Wax Resist with Vivian Rodriguez
23 & 30 June, 7 July - 6:00 - 8:30PM
In this course Vivian will be teach students how to decorate their own work using the wax resist technique on leather hard pieces as well as bisque ware. Students will be encouraged to created their own design using club glazes. Students are also welcome to bring to class their own glazes as long as they are mid-fire, cone 6, glazes that can be fired at the club.
Clay Club
Next meeting: 2 July, 10AM - 12PM
We started our new look Clay Club in late May and had a great turnout. This team of volunteers is responsible for clay recycling and associated tasks but, along the way, will learn the best ways to recycle clay, why we use grog, clay types and their use, understanding clay firing temperatures, and use the pug mill to help make the club's recycled clay (which we sell back to our members).
Clay Club will happen once a month, alternating between a weekday and a weekend, sign up to come whenever you can make it. Our next session will be on 2 July, 10am - 12pm so sign up in HelloClub and we’ll see you there. No experience is required.
Soda Kiln Disassembly - Part 2
Wednesday, 14 June 10AM - 2PM
Thanks to the volunteers that helped get most of the Horokiwi Soda Kiln disassembled in May. We just have a bit more to go and are looking for another 8 volunteers to help on Wednesday 14 June, 10am - 2pm. This is a great opportunity for people wanting to understand more about wood or soda firing. For more details and to sign up have a look in HelloClub.
Friday Support Night
A reminder that Friday nights are our club support nights! This drop-in event complements our Tuesday Club Mornings. All welcome!
An experienced potter (Christine Winbush, Hedy Ankers, Richard Stratton) will be in the main studio to to answer questions about clay and glazing (bring your bisqueware if you want). Come join us to connect with your fellow potters, ask for advice, support or trouble shooting about any thing.
We hope to see you there!
Please note that these sessions do not run on public holiday weekends.
Please note, going forward our members’ classes will be opened up to Ōtaki Pottery Club two weeks before class if they are not full. We hope this will build connections between our Clubs and ensure our classes can go ahead. If you would like to participate in a class, please sign up early to avoid disappointment.
Volunteer of the Month - Kate Mac
How long have you been a member and what made you join?
My story is probably similar to many other new-ish members - I have fond memories of making stuff from terracotta clay as a kid in the 90s, I did a couple of one-day workshops as an adult (which made pottery seem way easier and faster than it actually is) and I spent years trying to get into a beginners class through CEC. I finally did an intro course in 2020 and after the membership moratorium and pandemic both eased, I became a member in July 2021.
What kind of ceramics do you most like to make?
I love handbuilding! Recently, I have found my niche of making time consuming and ultimately functionless things (as illustrated by the ‘have a banana and a sit down’ series of tiny chairs with tiny bananas on them). I really like the process of taking a concept, figuring out how to make it. refining the flow, making a few and then never making anymore ever again.
I’m sort of learning to throw (with the aim of combining throwing and handbuilding) but, like parallel parking, it’s a struggle and when it works out it’s a fluke.
What volunteering do you do?
After declaring secretarial experience on my application form, I was appointed as Club Secretary two months after joining! The Secretary role involves supporting monthly Committee meetings, managing our inbox, submitting our annual return to Charities Services and a bunch of other stuff. Recently I’ve been working with Martin in the ‘education’ space, reviving the potter in residence programme and organising members' classes. I am really keen to increase the frequency and variety of classes for our members and our connections with potters from across Aotearoa.
Plug: I (mostly) enjoy being part of the Committee. It has allowed me to get involved in so many aspects of the running of our Club and it’s a privilege to shape the future direction of our facilities, operations, education and events. There’s a good bunch of people on the Committee and there are usually snacks. If you are Committee-curious, please hit me up for a chat!
What do you hope for WPA in the future?
We’re really fortunate to have our space here, nestled on the side of Ahumairangi. It takes a lot to keep the place ticking and I hope more members will volunteer their time to spread the load of maintaining and growing our Club.
I hope we keep connecting with each other in the rooms and through our social events, classes, and anagama firing (I can’t wait to burn more wood!).
I also hope we can collectively raise the profile of ceramics and our Club with the wider Te Whanganui a Tara community through our Ceramicus exhibition.
Volunteer of the month nominations - gone digital!
Don’t forget that now you can nominate your fellow WPA potters for Volunteer of the month - online! Our volunteer nomination box is still open at the club, but if you prefer to nominate someone digitally here is your chance.
As you all know, the WPA functions solely on the hard work of volunteers. We would like to recognize members for their hard work, this form is where you can nominate a fellow potter who you see helping around the club. It can be something simple as they help take the trash out, or they help put away bats, or they are helping organize an event. Every action is really appreciated, and we would like to recognize them publicly.
Volunteers who are nominated will be reviewed by the committee, and highlighted in an upcoming newsletter in a small feature with information about what kind of volunteer work they do and bits about the pottery they also like to make.
Thanks for your help in recognizing our helpful members!
Community Events
Today launches the first day of this creative month-long fundraising challenge! Whether you're a creative professional, a hobbyist, or a novice wanting to try your hand at a new skill, Create for Dementia is your chance to get creative for a good cause regardless of your skills and experience. Your support will help make a huge difference to the lives of hundreds of Kiwi families living with dementia mate wareware. It’s easy, fun and free to participate, so join creators across the country and start fundraising today. You can participate solo or as a team, we would love to see some WPA participants so make sure to tag us in your making process if you are participating! Visit createfordementia.org.nz for more details
Ceramics NZ (CANZ / Ceramics Association of NZ / NZ Society of Potters) is undertaking a review to set its strategic direction and programme of activity for the coming five years.
As part of this review we are running a survey to make sure we capture the ideas and needs of our members and the wider ceramics community. We invite all potters, ceramic artists, clubs, associations, educators, suppliers, galleries, etc. to complete this survey. The closing date for submissions is 11 June 2023.
Re-use, Re-purpose, Beautify with Gold! Hello Lovely locals. New year to try something new.....
Ema Frost will be holding a KINTSUGI WORKSHOP on Sat & Sun 24th & 25th June here in Wellington again and she has limited spots available so make sure to book in early.
Have you ever wanted to try Kintsugi.... It's an ancient Japanese art form where you fix broken pottery with gold - making its imperfections its beauty. - A truly wonderful philosophy to live by. If you are interested please go to: https://tinyurl.com/mwxbdk8p
I'm sure there's a few of you out there that have been saving a broken piece not knowing quite what to do with it, and if not Ema has plenty of back ups. So just bring yourselves and have some fun. Bring a friend and make some Kintsugi magic together.
4 Potters 2 Studios
This weekend, 3rd + 4th June from 10Am - 4PM there is a pottery sale featuring Frank Light, James Carter, and Tanya & Jenny Shearer. Frank & James will be at 28 Manly St Paraparaumu, Jenny & Tanya will be at 48 Manly St Paraparaumu. There will be plates, bowls, cups, mugs, vases of many kinds, oven dishes, platters, jugs, bowls big & small, and seconds. All welcome!