Meet our new Manager, Josephine Hughes
Please join us in welcoming our new Manager, Josephine Hughes, who started with us this week.
While Josephine has had some experience with clay, having gained a Certificate in Ceramics (with distinction!); her main focus in her career has been working in galleries and museums as an exhibitions designer. Having worked at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery, The Dowse Art Museum, Auckland Museum, Waikato Museum and MTG Hawke’s Bay, Josephine has an intense respect for objects, materials and their makers.
This passion, particularly for 3D art and design, is what led Josephine to apply for the role here at WSP. And one week into the job she is stunned at the creativity, talent and sense of community she has found here.
At home Josephine has a big garden, loves to cook, and is mum to two standard poodles, Jake and Marcel. She also has intentions to return to sculpture one day. Perhaps her medium of choice will be clay!
Volunteers for Tuesday PWC
We’re looking for a few volunteers who can go on a roster to support Margaret in running our Tuesday evening Play with Clay sessions, 6pm – 9pm. This is your opportunity to hang out with the lady and legend that is Margaret! We hope to set up a wee roster and with enough volunteers you won’t need to be on duty too often. If you think you might be able to spare the odd Tuesday evening, please get in touch with Libby: info@waikatopotters.co.nz
Term 1 Classes
Classes start next week and many are sold out already, but we still have a few places in these ones:
Hand Building for Kids and Teens – 4-weeks (starting 12th Feb)
Mondays
4pm – 5.30pm
Animal Sculpture
Thursdays
9.30am – 12.30pm
Introduction to Pottery – 4 weeks
Fridays
6pm – 9pm
Beginner’s Wheel Throwing Taster – 4 weeks
Sundays
10am – 1pm
Find more info and enrol here:
Studio schedule
Studio schedule
Despite the (kind of) long weekend and Waitangi Day, our Saturday and Tuesday Play with Clay sessions are on, thanks to our ever-fab volunteers. Classes start this coming week too, so take a look at the studio schedule below, and check the calendar for any updates:
www.waikatopotters.co.nz/studio/
Saturday 3rd Feb
10am-1pm Play with Clay
Monday 5th Feb
9.30am - 12.30pm Class - Wheel Throwing
1pm - 4pm Members’ Open Studio
6pm - 9pm Class - Wheel Throwing
Tuesday 6th Feb
9.30am - 4pm Closed for Waitangi Day
6pm - 9pm Play with Clay IS ON
Wednesday 7th Feb
9.30am - 12.30pm Play with Clay
1pm - 4pm Members’ Open Studio
6pm - 9pm Class - Wheel Throwing
Thursday 8th Feb
9.30am - 12.30pm Class - Animal Sculpture
1pm - 4pm Members’ Open Studio
6pm - 9pm Class - Hand Building
Friday 9th Feb
9.30am - 4pm Members’ Open Studio
6pm - 9pm Class - Intro to Pottery
Saturday 10th Feb
9.30am - 1pm Play with Clay
Sunday 11th Feb
10am - 1pm Class - Wheel Throwing
Margaret’s Pick of the Month
This is a fun new award for our club members and will be chosen by Margaret each month, as she sees pretty much everything that comes through our kilns.
The prize is a firing credit and of course WSP fame and adulation. We are hoping to also showcase the piece in our foyer each month, with the maker’s permission of course, and we will be setting this up soon.
This month our winner is Alicia Sim, who made this very fetching purple flower! Congrats on catching Margaret’s eye with your piece, Alicia!
Events in the works
Your committee met this past Monday to start planning for the coming year and came up with a number of events and workshops to schedule. In the works are some wood firings and some matariki themed workshops and possibly an exhibition of that body of work. To help us find the workshops you want to attend, we’d love to hear from you on who your dream NZ potter for a WSP workshop would be. Let us know by emailing Josephine: manager@waikatopotters.co.nz
The events we have dates for so far are:
Open Day – 13th April
Great Pottery Throw Down – 6th July
Members Exhibition – 22nd August – 24th September
Open Day - 12th October
Christmas Party – 17th December
Mark your calendars and keep an eye out for more to come!
Meet the Crew Mondays …on a Friday
It’s a double MTCMOAF whammy this week – we introduced Margaret on the socials on Monday, and although she most likely needs no introduction for many of you, here she is again for those who aren’t on Facebook or Instagram.
Margaret is one of our Artists in Residence and Play with Clay volunteers. Most days she is in the kiln room playing kiln-tetris to load, fire and unload all your work in our 6 kilns. On Tuesday nights she volunteers so the studio can be open for our potting community to come and get their clay fix.
Margaret started potting back when she lived in Waimiha when a group of friends would travel over to the Bennydale pottery club each week. When she moved to the Waikato 18 years ago, she started coming to PWC at WSP, back when we were located in Riverlea. Shortly after that, Margaret started running those sessions.
In her potting practice Margaret makes a range of tiny houses, piggies, garden sculptures, korus and of course her famous kiwis, which are in hot-demand.
Margaret is a keen gardener and an avid NZ-sports supporter – tennis, cricket and rugby are her favourites.
Give her some love when you’re in the studio!
