Apple worm houses, intricately detailed porcelain bowls ... Rowena Orejana meets a talented Howick potter.
Jean Greenhorn's blue eyes twinkle merrily as she greets us in front of her Point View Drive home in Howick.
"What are you going to do if you find out that my ceramics aren't good?" teases the retired grandmother in her very proper English accent. "Are you still going to write about it?"
There is, of course, no such danger. Mrs Greenhorn is a talented artist as the works displayed throughout her house show.
When one thinks of potters, artists and craftspeople, one often thinks of West Auckland. But tucked into this semi-rural part of East Auckland is a gem of a potter.
"We have a lot of artists in this area. My daughter designs jewellery and she lives just down the road," she says.
Jenny Beck, a neighbour, friend, writer and a huge admirer, says it is the variety in Mrs Greenhorn's work that amazes her. Mrs Beck picks up a small porcelain pot decorated with turquoise fish and looks into it. "I don't know how Jean can ever manage to paint a fish inside that," she says. Even the bottom of the pot has a drawing on it.
On the coffee table are two ceramic apples - one red, the other green. They open to reveal a family of worms living in each apple, complete with sets of furniture.
"I did those for my grandchildren," says Mrs Greenhorn. "I don't think I'd do any more of them."
Mrs Greenhorn was a painter before she changed to pottery. She started basic training in ceramics in South Africa in 1974 under Canadian potter Gordon Wales. She also studied with well-known South African potter, Digby Hoets.
"I had a friend who was into pottery who asked me to try it. As soon as I started playing with clay, I knew I wanted to do this and I've never let go," she says.
Her style is eclectic. "You start gravitating towards something that pulls you."
She has made plates, cups, vases and trays, though not as a set. "I never do two pots the same."
Her work is inspired by the mosaic ensembles of the Byzantine era, the jewel-encrusted bowls of the Topkapi museum in Turkey as well as the earthy colours of South Africa.
Mrs Greenhorn uses tools with needle points, even dental tools to create her most intricate designs. "After that, I can clean teeth," she jokes as she wields the implement.
She doesn't sell her work as she hates marketing. "We tried some craft fairs but these don't seem suited for that," she says.
She remembers making a particularly intricate piece only to have it slip and smash. "It waited until I'd just finished it," she says, shaking her head.
Mrs Greenhorn has exhibited her works in galleries in Auckland and Hamilton and has been invited to show 12 of her pieces at Monmo Gallery in Orewa at a time still to be worked out.
She says she will probably go on doing, what is to her, a hobby. "If you can still see, there's no reason why you can't do it."
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