Whanganui potter Melissa Crawford with an almost finished piece intended for showing in the Studio Potters exhibition. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui potter Melissa Crawford with an almost finished piece intended for showing in the Studio Potters exhibition. Photo / Bevan Conley
Whanganui Potters Studio (WPS) artists are preparing for their annual exhibition, which opens at Whanganui Community Arts Centre on July 30.
"We normally hold the exhibition over Queen's Birthday weekend," said co-ordinator Francis Sim-Higgins.
"It was postponed due to Covid-19 restrictions but the good thing is that wehave use of the gallery until August 10 so people will have more time to visit the exhibition."
WPS member Melissa Crawford plans to exhibit eight of her works in the show and she was finishing a platter at the Taupō Quay studio this week.
"I have been doing pottery since I was very young but in recent years I have been seriously developing my own style and marketing my work as Lee Creations.
"I travel to markets around the region and sell my pots, which I often plant with succulents and aloes, and I also make jewellery and other small pieces."
Crawford said the skulls that feature on many of her pieces are not gloomy or sinister.
"I'm fascinated with concepts of rebirth and reincarnation and I like to explore those ideas in my work," she says.
"It is really about symbolising renewal rather than death."
Woodsman shadow box by Debra Powell aka Little Betty.
Photo / Supplied
Each year WPS invite an out-of-town guest artist to exhibit their work in the show and the 2020 featured artist is Hamilton-based studio potter Debra Powell, who goes by the brand name Little Betty.
She describes her work as "quirksome and always heartfelt" and says she is inspired by many talented people in her orbit as well as her "shameless collection" of curious and homely things.
She creates functional vessels with quirky details, jewellery, masks, shadow boxes and puppets, as well as paintings and illustrations on ceramic canvasses.
WPS was founded as Wanganui Potters Society Inc in 1975 and voted to change its name in 2018.
"We wanted to adopt a name that acknowledges the society's history while recognising that we are in the 21st century," Sim-Higgins said.
"We have been really busy since the Covid restrictions have eased and members have been very pleased to get back into the studio."
WPS currently has 92 members and welcomes inquiries from new members.
Club sessions are held in the studio on two mornings and two nights a week and there are wheel classes and raku firing demonstrations available.
Whanganui Potters Studio: Annual Exhibition, Whanganui Community Arts Centre, Friday, July 31 to Monday, August 10, 10am to 4pm, Monday to Friday and 10am to 1pm Saturday. Inquiries to Francis Sim-Higgins 027 462 9902
