Book review
New Zealand Potters: Their Work and Words by Doreen Blumhardt and Brian Brake
Reviewed by ELIZABETH CALLIS
This attractively presented book, published by A.H. and A.W. Reed Ltd, opens with a survey of the development of New Zealand ceramics from the nineteen-forties to the present day. It concludes by pointing out that 'The tendency towards the making of art objects in clay, in preference to those intended for use, is becoming more apparent.'
This is followed by a close look at twelve potters: Charles Holmes, Graeme Storm, Mirek Smisek, Chester Nealie, Len Castle, Peter Stichbury, David Brokenshire, Margaret Milne, Rosemarie and Roger Brittain, Doreen Blumhardt (who also edits the book), and Roy Cowan. The aim has been to present both long established potters and those more recently involved.
The potters speak for themselves. The texts are edited from tapes, and thus give a purely personal view of each potter's aims and ideas. Most of the potters stress the link between personality and pots. ROY COWAN: What you are will be there in your work whatever you do. CHARLES HOLMES: The older I become the more intrigued I get about life, and what it's all about, and perhaps the sum total of my experience goes into the pots I make. GRAEME STORM: Your approach to life is inevitably mirrored in the piece that you make. CHESTER NEALIE: I believe that your pots are the reflection of your developments as a person.
The use of tapes allows the enthusiasm of the potters to communicate itself clearly to the reader. GRAEME STORM: Even the ordinary tasks connected with running a pottery have a quiet excitement about them. .. I never cease to be enthralled and awed by the spectacle of those four pillars of fire pulsing upward into the kiln. LEN CASTLE: Clay and fire, exciting partners to work with. . . My fingers have manipulated and known intimately about sixty tons of clay during twenty-five years of potting. . . My respect and fascination for it remains.
|
LEN CASTLE Stoneware bottle vase with 'Shino' type glaze Photograph by Brian Brake |
Some of the potters touch on the spiritual aspect of pottery. GRAEME STORM: That actual moment of opening the kiln - that's when you know beyond all doubt that you do not work alone.
Individual preferences are given with equally individual reasons. LEN CASTLE: Lidded pots offer and suggest protection, surprise and discovery. MARGARET MILNE: I'm really enjoying porcelain at present. I like the freedom it gives you to explore different forms and textures. GRAEME STORM: I must admit also to a sneaking preference for the smaller pot. . . To have the complete statement, all that you are trying to say, contained in a piece that can be cradled in your hand, is a beautiful sensation.
Biographical notes at the end of the book supply the necessary facts and dates.
A generous number of examples of each potter's work have been beautifully photographed by Brian Brake, and photographs of the potters have been included so that the curious can put faces to the familiar names.
As a bonus, the marks of ninety-five potters are illustrated and identified as a reference list for collectors.
Originally published in Art New Zealand 3 December/January 1976-77