Meet Mark, Mighty Waikato Pottery Throw Down

Our crew member this week is Mark Tamura. Mark recently joined the WSP team as an Artist in Residence, so you’ll often see him around the studio on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

Mark started potting in 2022. He joined Libby’s wheel-throwing class at WSP as an antidote to a job that he was finding rather stressful at the time. While it may seem strange to add an extra element to a weekly schedule that is arguably already too full, it really helped Mark. And that’s a common theme here at WSP, many of us find the time we spend working with clay really helps to de-stress and centre a busy mind.

Once Mark got started he couldn’t stop! He’s now an accomplished potter and has started teaching private wheel-throwing lessons at WSP.

Mark’s favourite thing to make is wild-clay tableware. He really loves being able to give someone back a piece of pottery that started its life as a piece of earth from a place that is special to them – something that can connect them with that place whenever they use it.

Having concentrated mostly on wheel-thrown domestic ware, Mark is using his Residency to develop that further, and is now also pushing himself into exploring new sculptural forms. As well as that, it’s allowing him to focus on getting familiar with the full range of tasks and systems that a fully functional ceramics practice and busy studio needs. From maintaining the various clay and glaze traps, clay recycling, kiln loading/unloading, firing, glaze making etc. There is so much to learn, and everyone is so generous with their time and knowledge – he tells us it’s a great space with great people.

Outside of the studio, Mark is a stay-at-home dad with two busy daughters and a consultant working mainly in local government, planning, and environmental management.

Say hi to Mark next time you’re in the studio, hit him up for a convo about the fantastic clay bodies he finds, and check out these pics of his work.