Halswell Potters flourishing

Press, 9 May 1984, Page 18

Halswell Potters flourishing

One of the more charming features of the quaint old cottage which houses the Halswell Pottery Group on the outskirts of Halswell is the cluster of calves which graze around the cen-tury-old building and peer inquisitively through the vyindows at the activity inside. It is from this building on Candys Road that the pottery group began in 1971 as an offshoot of the local Improvement Society. The group has flourished since then, attracting a strong membership, a long waiting list and a central core of dedicated and enthusiastic potters. A significant number of those early members, who joined as beginners, have now earned reputations as some of Canterbury’s leading potters, reflecting the group’s policy of having regular instruction from New Zealand Society potters such as Rex Valentine and Mari Tothill, as well as visiting potters from other parts of the country and overseas. The Halswell group is now regularly asked to stage craft displays at conferences and shows around Canterbury, and the group’s annual December sale — known locally as “The Halswell Happening” — is always very popular. Both the

Canterbury Museum and the Robert McDougall Art Gallery have bought pots crafted by Halswell members, and the Mayoress, Lady Hay is a regular buyer at the group’s exhibitions, using the pots as gifts for visiting dignitaries. The group’s president, Mrs Margaret Restall, said that it is now quite customary for Halswell pots to make their way overseas. “People do like New Zealand pottery,” Mrs Restall said. “It is not uncommon for our pots to travel overseas. We sold a lot of pots at the World Hereford Conference held here last month, for example. It’s really no longer a big deal.” A diversity of styles and approaches is encouraged within the group. Work ranges through earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. It is produced as handwork, domestic ware and sculpture, and different glaze effects are achieved through electric, oil or gas firings. The group often experiments with raku and sawdust firings too, although these are more “fun things” than serious, according to Mrs Restall. “I think it is important to have some fun as well as be serious about it,” Mrs Restall said. “Probably more than 50 per cent of our members are serious hobby

potters.” It is a rather lonely hobby, and the stimulation of group meetings at the cottage are an essential part of the cohesiveness and enthusiasm of the group. Club days are Mondays and Thursday evenings, and during the’ winter term regular classes are held for the less experienced by more expert members of the group. Six wheels, two electric and one oil-fired kilns at the cottage are provided for members. Every year the group organises two intensive twoday schools, one a working school, the other a demonstration school held in conjunction with the group’s annual exhibition at the C.S.A. Gallery. This year’s school was taken by Paul Fisher, from Drari, last week-end. He is also guest exhibitor at the group’s exhibition which is at present on show at the C.S.A. until the end of this week. Mr Fisher has been potting for 13 years and is living just out of Timaru where fye works with two other potters, digging their own clay and firing pots in a traditional Japanese wood-fired climbing kiln. , In 1976 he was honoured by the family of Shoji Hamada, one of this century’s greatest Japanese

potters, who organised for him a six-week study trip in Mashiko, a potting village 120kms north of Tokyo. Mr Fisher has also made a study tour of Australia. He works in stoneware and is particularly wellregarded for his very rich glazes and beautiful decorations. ■ A feature of this year’s Halswell exhibition is a separate exhibition of 20 pots Mr Fisher chose from the hundred or so on display as being particularly worthy of honour. He saw this as the best solution to his personal distaste at having to be official arbiter of which pots were chosen as exhibition pieces and which were not. “I don’t believe in selection,” Mr Fisher said. “I realise it’s seen as valued criticism, but it is really personal taste.” He felt that those members whose work was honoured in the centre would get “an extra lift” and that it would close the ranks between himself and the rest of the group. “I am placed on this pedestal as guest exhibitor, and some of the group’s pots deserve to be put on a pedestal as well. It’s going to close the gap between the Halswell group and myself. We can all learn from each other.”