Welcome to My Pottery Studio

JOURNEY

I’ve always created, whether it was from the mud resulting from the seasonal rains on my childhood Caribbean Island of Curacao, the sands on beaches, painting, or fabric.

Ceramics added a layer of depth and permanence to my artwork. In particular, as challenging as it can be, I love the dimension of the glazes, and how they interact in the firing with clay and textures.

For me, this medium has evolved into a way of life. I could further explore the qualities, as well as having the opportunity to have a home-based business.

In the early seventies, information in this field was very limited, and in a lot of cases, secretive.  The origins of books available were from overseas and ingredients for glaze recipes had to be adjusted to New Zealand resources.

The then established potters, who are actually the founding fathers of the pottery movement in New Zealand, just experimented on a grand scale, and boldly carved their own success.

My drive came from wanting the duality, to create and earn a living.

My first kiln was electric, I wanted to have some kind of consistency and control over end results. At that time, not to fire in a gas, wood or diesel kiln was slightly frowned upon. In electric firing, having no open flame, or the ability to play with molten glazes by throwing different items into a blazing furnace meant you’re not really doing it. It was a matter of putting more skill and effort into the glazing application to obtain gorgeous results.

I also had no idea about marketing, and literally went to the library to do research. The one book that changed my life was called Guerilla Marketing by JC Levinson.

It was not only the information, but also the change of attitude and framing of what needed to be done.