"Oribe is a free-flowing way of making, and it's a philosophy around non-pretentiousness, leaving emotion in the clay and not hiding the soul through technique."
The word oribe comes from the Samurai, Futura Oribe, who developed the style and today refers to Japanese style ash glaze.
"It's a style ... a feeling, and doesn't matter whether you use terracotta, porcelain or clear glaze," Mr Scythe said.
He loves the actual doing of pottery, and then looking at a board of nicely decorated pots, which once finished he leaves behind, always moving on with the aim of improving his practice.
"No matter how many pictures I draw or how much planning I do, as soon as I touch clay I change my mind. It's what I really like about clay - your feelings go into it, and feelings change daily."
Other Whanganui ceramicists Ivan Vostinar and April Pearson also express a love of their medium, something that is shared by growing numbers of people attending pottery classes.
"Something is changing," Mrs Pearson said. "Most people who come to our classes are very busy and I think they want to slow down and connect with some quieter, meaningful, satisfying thing that they have perhaps put on hold.
"The idea of getting your hands into malleable material and fashioning something out of it is a wonderful feeling of control and of release."
She sees mothers or fathers at home with small children, and some "almost incarcerated in the workplace" and many others in their 50s who were told they were no good at art.
Ivan Vostinar began sculpting clay and making craft pottery 12 years ago.
"Clay is perhaps the most immediate and most free sculptural medium," he said.
"It's flexible and dynamic whereas all the other materials have restrictions [early in the process]. Ceramics has restrictions later in the firing then glazing, but in the sculpting itself I feel there is no limitation."
He begins with no fixed idea, first clearing the mind.
"I pick up the clay, bend it, make a curve and that leads to the next bit. Things slowly evolve and then something new or spontaneous emerges."
Because ceramics is extremely technical he says there is always something to be learned when seeing other people's work.
"I'm very interested to see Aaron Scythe's work - he has absolute technical excellence following very much a Japanese tradition. But there is a certain looseness and spontaneity, something in that approach which is hard to master."
The exhibition Whenua Hou: New Māori Ceramics, developed and toured by Tauranga Art Gallery Toi Tauranga and Objectspace is on display at Sarjeant on the Quay, 31 Taupo Quay (above the i-SITE) until August 27.
