Hi all!
First up, we’d like to say a huuuuge thank you to everyone who helped with Open Day! For those who were here you’ll know that we had an enormous number of visitors and it was such a big team effort to show them all the WSP love. We are now firing and glazing all the awesome creations that were made on the day, so they can be ready for our new friends to collect next week. Thanks everyone for making this such a cool day, we had lots of great feedback about the event and the friendliness of our club.
Annual General Meeting – Tuesday 14th May, 6pm
This is one of our most important meetings of the year, and we’d love it if you came along and joined the korero about our club. We need a certain amount of members present too, to make it all official and such, so we’re holding it on a Tuesday night during Play with Clay to make it accessible to everyone. Please come along, have a chat, help pass motions, minutes, and financial accounts. We make the meeting as short as we can, and we’ll share a kai! We literally can’t operate without your input in this way :)
Have a think about joining the committee as well. It’s a voluntary position, but having enough committee members is essential to keep our society up and running. Committee members meet once a month via Zoom to keep us on track, pay the bills, and just make sure you have a place to come and pot. If you’d like to give back in this way, have a chat with us before the AGM and we’ll give you more info.
Term 2 Classes
Our next round of classes will be starting on the 29th of April – not far away. Here’s what’s on offer – find more info and enrol on our class bookings page.
Wednesdays
4pm – 5.30pm
Kids hand building with Emily Eales
6 weeks
6pm – 9pm
Wheel throwing, altering and decorating with Yasmin Davis
8 weeks
Thursdays
9.30am – 12.30pm
Sculpture Skills with Emily Eales
8 weeks
6pm – 9pm
Hand building with Larissa Milsum
8 weeks
Fridays
6pm – 9pm
Intro to Pottery with David Kenny
4 weeks
Sundays
10am – 1pm
Wheel throwing taster with Sarah Steed
4 weeks
Get Your Groove On
Linocut and tile workshop with Yasmin Davis
Learn to make linocuts to emboss clay tiles.
Yasmin will also demonstrate water colour painting on bisque ware.
Day 1: Saturday 11th May 1.30-5.30pm - tile design and lino cutting
Day 2: Sunday 12th May 1.30-5.30pm - making tiles using the linocuts.
WSP members are encouraged to enter their tiles into the annual exhibition at Artspost in August. You could win the Tile Award!
No experience with clay is required for you to enjoy this class. All materials are supplied, but firing is not included. More info and sign-ups here.
Personal Pou
A Matariki themed workshop with Dave Austin
Saturday 22nd of June, 9.30am – 4.30pm.
Nau mai, tauti mai for this Matariki-themed workshop with local artist, Dave Austin.
Everyone is welcome, Māori and non-Māori, experienced clay workers and complete beginners, WSP-members and non-members.
In this workshop Dave will share the story of Matariki with us and talk about its significance to himself and what it is to feel Matariki as a Māori. He will then guide us in creating our own slab-built and sgraffito’d Pou that you will get to decorate in a way that holds personal significance to you.
Studio Schedule
Here’s what’s happening next week… Check the online calendar though in case.
Saturday 20th of April
10am – 1pm, Play with Clay - thanks Tim, Teresa and team!
Sunday 21st April
Closed
Monday 22nd of April
9.30am – 4pm, Members’ Open Studio
Tuesday 23rd of April
9.30am – 4pm, Members’ Open Studio
6pm – 9pm, Play with Clay – Thank you Margaret, Trudie and John!
Wednesday 24th of April
9.30am – 12.30pm, Play with Clay
1pm – 4pm, Members’ Open Studio
6pm – 9pm, Class – Hand Building mini-term
Thursday 25th of April
CLOSED for ANZAC Day
Friday 26th of April
9.30am – 4pm, CLOSED for Diploma
Saturday 27th of April
10am – 1pm, Play with Clay - thanks Tim, Teresa and team!
Sunday 28tht of April
Closed
Liz Sharek Workshop – Saturday 4th May
We’ve still got a few places left on this wickedly wonderful workshop with Liz Sharek, but it’s almost sold out, so if you’re keen, get yourself onto the class bookings page and sign-up soon!
Memberships
Remember, it’s time to renew your membership! Our 2024-25 membership is underway now, so remember to sign-up online or in person to continue accessing the Members’ Open Studio sessions and get all these benefits:
Access to the dedicated Members’ Open Studio Sessions. Typically there are an additional 5-9 Open Studio sessions per week.
Discounted Play with Clay Session.
Further Discounts for Open Studio and PWC sessions when purchasing a Concession Card.
Utilising our firing service for pieces made outside of classes and PWC.
Discounted class and workshop enrolments.
Entry into the Annual WSP Exhibition at Arts Post.
Membership events such as the Mighty Waikato Pottery Throw Down and the Matariki / Mid-Winter Feast.
Meet the crew Mondays …on a Friday
Meet David Kenny!
David is our Raku Club Firemaster, Intro to Pottery Tutor, dedicated volunteer, and with his engineering background, he’s our go-to person when we have questions about maintenance on all the Stuff™ here. He’s a top bloke, who helps us fix soooo many things around the studio.
David started potting at high school (last century, he says) because the subject looked a lot more fun than History. He also enjoyed the technical rules that allowed him to explore shapes. What kept him potting after finishing school was the feeling of peace he got from concentrating and making things out of clay.
In 2012, David started coming along to the Tuesday night Play with Clay sessions that Margaret ran, and still runs for us now! Back then, there were often just the two of them in the building – it’s come a long way since!
David most enjoys making things out of slabs and incorporating curves into those pieces. And of course, Raku firing – he likes that the crackle lines in the glaze do the decorating for him. We’re sure the glowing-hot pots and flames have something to do with it too :)
When David teaches and volunteers at WSP, he most enjoys helping people get to grips with how to shape clay and seeing their excitement when they push through and make something they really like. Sharing the excitement of the Raku kiln is up there too, the element of teamwork he creates to process all the work quickly and safely is very rewarding.
Outside of pottery, David enjoys watching science, engineering and maths videos. He even has his own YouTube channel called Pottery with an Engineer, dedicated to the how and the why of all things pottery related. Check it out!
