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Lyndele is away so we won't have one of her fantastic newsletters this month. Instead here is my report with information from the recent committee meeting, a note from the Festival convenors and more. C. We are well into the year now and what a great start. The Festival of Pots was a huge success as is reflected by the amount of positive feedback we have received. Our sales were also up by 25% on the 2023 festival. Thank you to all of you who are right behind this. We cannot do this without members input and in particular the core group of people who make this work so well. The reason we can provide the facilities we have without having to run raffles or whatever else clubs do to raise funds is because of this Festival and our members. This year we will be looking at painting the building- including doing the fantastic Moller design that you will see on the red notice board. We are in the process of fixing up the drive with a more permanent solution this time! We have attended to many drainage issues (thanks to Kaleb) and we have bought a new Shimpo kiln. Thank you to those who came along or contributed via email to the Members meeting on the 18th . It was a well attended and very positive meeting with lots of valuable feedback. Points raised that have been recorded are -
* Some of the topics above will be brought to the AGM on the 19 th May so please put this date in your diary. HOUSEKEEPING: - Classes started back early February and are now in full swing. These run through to the last week of March and first week of April. Clare is now considering workshops for the next 6 months. Keep an eye on the website and notice board for these. The club is offering a Pit firing and a Raku firing for members only– dates later in the newsletter. Thank you to Paula and Rod for running these. These are not workshops, but the managers have offered to hold a revision session a week before the date to go over the how to’s! - Information on confirmation of enrollment. As mentioned earlier we have had ongoing plumbing issues, and we are very grateful to Kaleb – (Bespoke plumbing – contact details below) who has come to our rescue. We need to get these issues fixed before we can complete the driveway and carpark upgrade. Thanks to Rob for overseeing this. We are still desperately seeking someone to take on the Rooms manager role. This does not mean you do the work but manage the people who have been allocated areas. Our cleaner Teri is doing a fantastic job, however she is having to do more and more hours cleaning up after you all. Please think about this. This is a cost to the club. The kitchen is one area that we all need to be onto. If you make a mess - in the microwave, on the bench, table, oven etc clean it up please. Please remember to wipe down the area in the workroom you have used and dry off with a towel. Too often I see benches that may have been wiped with a damp cloth, but this has not removed the clay that ends up as dry clay dust smeared over the top. When you are wiping your bench area remember to wipe down your cupboard front too (if you have one) . We are trying to eliminate (as much as possible) clay dust as this is the cause of many illnesses. And if you see anything that needs doing please don’t just walk on by. Social Events manager. Those who attended the members meeting indicated they would like more club social activity, so we are looking for someone to take on the role of organising social times/events. The gallery has an opening on the first Thursday of each month 5.30pm - 7pm. (with the exception of this month being a leap year!). This is a great time to get-together and to also support the exhibiting artist. Kylie continues to update and improve our website. Under the resources tab you can now find the clay ordering details and links to useful videos. Cubbies! – Rob and Brent, with a team, have been busy organising the clearing out of the storeroom off the kitchen. We have relocated the cleaning cupboard and once the room has had a lick of paint it will be lined with new cupboards for members. Stephanie is managing this so please let her know if you would like a cubby. Please note these need to be used and not used as dead storage. We cannot accommodate everyone so if you have a cupboard that you are not using, please vacate it and let Stephanie know. Kaleb is fabricating 2 more clay traps for the sinks in the wheel classroom. It has been a problem with large amounts of clay going down the sinks – this contributing to our drainage issues. The twin tubs outside the glazing room are an area that is also of concern as there is not a trap here so please do not wash clay down these tubs. Raku storage shed – Many thanks to Anne for erecting this shed for our Raku equipment. This will free up room in the storerooms making it easier to access our events equipment in future. And a big thankyou to our new member, Mark Keown who has taken on Equipment maintenance. He has been kept busy with the slab rollers which needed a bit of serious attention! Health and Safety – Dean identified a faulty wire on one of the wheels and asked had the electrician (Dale) in to check all of our electrical equipment. Bench fridge/ damp cupboard – Thanks to Paula and Ralph for acquiring and collecting the bench fridge. – now located in the wheel room. We do need damp cupboards for the main room so please let Rob know if you know of any large fridges or cupboards.. Gas Kiln - Neil Hey and his team welcome new members to the gas firing team. If you are interested in learning and upskilling here, please contact Neil. All Teams and Team leaders are listed on the red notice board. That’s it from me. I will be away from the 7th until the 25th March. Sue and the Committee are here to help, or I am only an email away if you have a specific concern. All the best everyone and thank you again for all your effort with the Festival. – Caitlin FESTIVAL OF POTS AND GARDEN ART 2024 The weather was kind. People came, sometimes in great numbers. Friday was a bit overwhelming with over a thousand through before lunch. Artist’s sales were outstanding $308,938.97. The café did a roaring trade. With 116 exhibitors, 35 were new, and over 5544 paying adults it became the biggest and best festival the club has run. A big thank you to all the members and friends of the club who worked hard to make it a great success. We can’t run an event like this without all hands on board, so well done! The demonstrations and giving people a hands-on experience was very popular this year. Moving them to a new location worked well. A request for also having them on the Friday will be considered for 2025. Having a separate member’s car park and creating more space for disabled parking proved very worthwhile. A de-brief of this year’s festival is being planned for later this month. If you would like to provide specific feedback to be considered please email Wendi Lindsay (Festival Administrator) [email protected] and thank you to those who have already submitted their thoughts. - from the Festival convenors. This month we Welcome our new member: Angela Francis Calendar dates Pit firing - 23rd March $15 pp (this covers wood and materials used). Rod G and Paula A. Club Raku - 20th April (with 27th being the fallback should it rain). Rod G. AGM 19th May 3.30pm For those who may need a great plumber, here is Kalebs contact information. 
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Members meeting - where to from here? - 18th February. 3.30pm
The club is growing - in numbers and classes - and the consequences are that we are having to make changes to keep up. I would like to propose a members meeting - an informal get together where we can flesh out some ideas on where you would like to see us going. I would love to see as many of you as possible come along but if you can't and would like to participate please let me know your thoughts via email . Who are we, What are we about and Where to from here? Club Ethos being - community, education, accessibility. Things to consider for discussion. · What is important? · Where are we headed? · What do we wish to achieve / accomplish? · What are our next steps? · Festival and Club Events – member involvement · Classes and what the club offers. · Community and what we offer. · How we best use our funds · Member responsibilities Ngā mihi | Regards Caitlin Taylor President Otaki Pottery Club E: [email protected] June has been a busy and exciting month for the club. The newly formed committee met and while it was more of an informal meeting, we did still attend to club business. I am very confident that this committee will be an effective team for the club. Great news is that Bryan Johnston has joined the committee and will be looking after the clubs accounts as Ann is stepping down. Ann has looked after the club accounts for many years and we are all extremely grateful for the many hours that she has given to looking after us. I hope now that Ann has more time she will be able to get her hands back in to the clay.
Members of the Club welcomed a TRANZIT Tour from Wellington to the Clubrooms. A big thank you to Stephanie, Rod, Paula, Kaye, Jenny, and Lynne who made sure they were well looked after. They browsed the gallery, had a tour around the club, were provided afternoon tea and were given a lump of clay to play with. Who knows some may even be inspired to get into ceramics? Star Glaze was an enormous success. Sue, Rod and all the teams made this event something to remember for the club. We had just shy of 1500 people through the Star Glaze exhibition. Visitors to the Festival also stopped by the gallery and were invited to have a wander around the rooms. The demonstrations organized by Murray were well received and, along with the Mayan pottery making, people had a really good insight of the 'working' club room. The response from visitors and members is that the Matariki festival is one to keep. Well done everyone. Kathryn Lims latest project needs Mayan pottery for props and so Kathryn suggested club members get together for a few days and make some. Running this alongside the clubs open days at the festival created a real buzz in the rooms. It was truly wonderful to see the rooms so busy and members enjoying themselves. If you couldn't get to the Mayan pottery making over the weekend Kathryn has left some clay in a container by the slab rollers for anyone who would like to make some pots for her. I am very grateful to Lynne Corkin for supplying the club with our carpark sign. A very generous gesture and a job that was well overdue by me. Thank you Lynne .... and I would like to also thank Lynne for the time she has, over the years, given to the club. Lynne worked alongside Ann looking after the club's sales books - this was no small job and will now be shared between Lynne, Erin and Emma - thank you ladies. The Fiona Tunnicliffe horse raffle was drawn by Stephanie at the end of Star Glaze. This was won by a visitor from Wellington. We need to update the club constitution which will require a Special General meeting. It is hoped this can be done in the next month. The information will be sent out well in advance however the changes are in relation to the titles of committee and a change of the accountant's role. This will be a good opportunity to also discuss further the club's festivals/ events. If you have any ideas on going forward with both the Festival of Pots and Star Glaze please let us know. Classes/Workshops: Margaret Hunt has decided - after many years of managing workshops for the club - to stand down and make way for someone else to step in and look after this important area. If you can help, please contact Jenny Turnbull - [email protected] The committee are very grateful to Margaret for her time setting up and organising many wonderful workshops for the club. Bonne Wooller will run an Orb Workshop on the 10th of August. Please email: [email protected] if you are interested. Information on the workshop will be advertised in the newsletter, on the website and posted in the rooms. Gallery: Jenny and Thomas's exhibition has come to an end and Stacey Young's and Lorna Tawhiti's started on the 30th June so please put the word out to drop in to the Tote Modern and see the work of these talented artists. Clay, Kilns and Glazes: The Clay team need someone to help with stock recording. If you can help please contact Rod. Kiln No. 2 required a new probe and again we are very grateful to Trevor Wright for stepping in and fixing the problem. Website: Kylie continues to keep our website up to date. If you have any suggestions or comments, please get in touch with Stephanie. Some of you may have seen that there is now an online enrolment form for classes. Maintenance: Brent has attended to the roof leaks. Fingers crossed this has fixed the problem. We will need to look at painting the roof before to long so again we will need quotes. If you know of any roofers and or painters who can do this type of work, please let Brent or Stephanie know. Fundraising: Katherine Joyce Kellaway has been looking for potential funding options to complete our renovations. Painting (Roof and exterior walls), Carpentry work, Driveway upgrade, If you can recommend any trades who Katherine could approach for quotes and if you can assist with funding applications please email Katherine - [email protected] Rooms: We would be lost without Kaye. Our rooms present many problems - lights not working, leaks, doors not closing, equipment needing attention, tools and molds not returned or cared for - and Kaye attends to all of this. Kaye is asking for help with spring cleaning the classrooms at the end of term. Please let her or Stephanie know if you can help. Please be mindful that if you do not clean the club tools, molds and equipment this all adds to Kayes list to organise and then she has no time to make her wonderful pots. This brings me to the problem with our molds ... these are not being looked after. Many have been scored with sharp tools! - please do not use metal tools in or around the tops of the molds and clean them well with a damp cloth after you have finished with them. Each mold has a place so please return it to where it belongs. Health & Safety: Murray Hopping has supplied an Emergency Response sheet of which a laminated copy is posted in the kitchen. Please read this. Sue is looking to source emergency torches for the rooms - these will be kept near the first aid kits. Competitions: There will be a section on the red notice board for any competitions that may be of interest to members. Check it out. A huge thank you to all of you who have put in so much time and energy into the club. It has given new life to the club in the dismal days of covid! Stay safe, Caitlin Classes have started and the clubrooms are getting busy. The Committee met last Thursday (17th ) and while the club is going well, we acknowledge that we need more help. The club is now 130 members and with this number comes an increase in the workload. At the moment this is falling to the committee and teams' managers. All the teams need help so please check the roster on the white board and contact a team leader if you can help. We are still looking for someone to manage "Teams".
The job description is yet to be defined and can be done with the person who, hopefully, puts their hand up. The Teams' manager is there to be a support to the specific team managers and to represent their concerns and requests to the committee. If you think you can help, please contact me (Caitlin) or Stephanie. Derryn, although now living some distance away from Otaki, has kindly agreed to continue managing the OPC "Pop up" events. The Equine market on the 5th of March (9am - 5pm) will be a very popular event and Derryn will set up the ceramics sales tables outside the Gallery- weather permitting. These events are very good exposure for the club and a great fundraiser. Please support this by bringing along your pots for sale. There are registration forms on the sign-in desk. If you have any queries, please telephone Derryn 027 465 7536. It would also be good to have members working in the rooms during this time. Sandra and Yvonne's exhibition is a wonderful collection of work constructed using a variety of methods. Sandra's pots cover a wide range of techniques including the very earthy Obvara firing method. Yvonne uses a range of materials to create her paintings. Brent Craigs exhibition will open this coming Thursday at 5.30pm all are welcome. Rod is organising an ''Adult classes" exhibition for October. This is a fantastic opportunity to see the work that is made and comes out of these classes. I look forward to seeing the creations. We are always looking for ways to raise funds for the club and especially now given the cancellation of the Festival 2022. If you have any ideas that could be a good fundraiser for the club, please let us know. I would like to make a Jigger and Jolly for the purpose of making a small range of domesticware that the club can sell. If you have any engineering expertise and could help, please let me know. For progress on the Smisek kilns go to their website: https://www.thekilnsattehoro.co.nz/ CLASSES - Emily Friedlander: Classes have got off to a good start. White boards are being installed in the classrooms for class notices and another board for tutor instruction. Options are being explored to hold extra classes to cater to the growing waiting list and this means we are on the lookout for new tutors. If you think you could take a class please contact Emily. WORKSHOPS -Margaret Hunt: Suggestions for workshops are being explored. Margaret has a few in the pipeline so keep an eye on your email advising of these. CLAY/GLAZES/KILNS-Rod Graham: Clay is well stocked. New clay KP8 (porcelain) has had good feedback. Glaze chemicals are getting harder to come by and prices are increasing so please be careful when using them. Trevor Wright has completed the work on the electric kilns and all are now running well. TOTE MODERN GALLERY - Paula Archibald: New shelves and pinboards have been installed in the Gallery. Thank you to the few who turned up to help paint and install. Neil, Wendy, Jojo, Bryan and Brent (and Brents spray gun which made short work of the painting) - this could not have happened without your help. We are asking that member's work in the gallery is to be rotated every 3 months. Please take your work away if it has not sold within that time replace it with fresh work. Don't forget to mark your registration form accordingly. ROOMS - Kaye Stead: We have a new cleaner - Riteria (Teri) Ruru. Please be considerate if you are working in the rooms when Teri is there - usually on a Sunday. Please remember to clean up after you .... That is wipe the surface with wet cloth and dry off with towel. If you use a towel or canvas and it needs washing please rinse /scrub it in the outside tubs and hang over the rack to dry. CLEANING BEES - Jojo Hare: A new roster has been posted on the notice board in the kitchen. Please put your name down for the date that suits you. If you are not able to do weekends, please contact Jojo. There will be other tasks that you can do as your cleaning bee. Remember also that you must let Jojo know if you cannot make the cleaning bee you have selected. EVENTS As we had no offers of help with the midyear event we have had to scrap this idea. Rod and Caitlin are to meet with Anam Cara management to discuss booking for the 2023 Festival of pots. OTAKI PONY CLUB Rally evenings are Wednesday evenings 5pm to 7.45pm: 2 March, 16 March and 30 March and 13 April and 27 April. The Gymkhana date has been changed to Saturday 12 March from 9am to 1 pm. A fundraising evening will be held on Thursday 10 March 4pm to 8pm. There will be someone on the gate at each of the above dates for entry and exit. Please be mindful of the horses, drive SLOWLY and give way to any horses close to or crossing the driveway The Racing Authority has mandated that any person entering the racecourse grounds must be vaccinated. Please share our Facebook page. This is a very effective (and free) way to advertise our club events and happenings. Caitlin Taylor President  Welcome to 2022 everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Summer break and now are ready for all that 2022 holds for you.
The club got off to a cracking start. Derryn and Lynne ran the Gallery over the race days - 5th and 13th Jan - ably assisted by their team. Family race day on the 5th was buzzing and the Gallery was a hit. These days are extremely valuable to the club not just for the exposure it gives but also for members to get involved and have their work on show. We were fortunate that the weather allowed for display tables to be set up outside. A huge thank you to everyone who helped here. These events were followed by the Summer School. As you all know the 2022 Festival of Pots and Garden Art had been postponed and the club is dependent to some extent on the funds this raises. Our kilns and equipment and the upkeep of these are all funded by money raised from this event. With this in mind Kathryn and Jenny came up with the idea of a Summer School and from there on it was a whirlwind. Allie joined the team and there was no stopping them. It was a mountain of work setting this up in such a short time frame, but what an amazing 2 weeks. This was an incredible event for the club, and we are discussing whether this might be something we can run again. We had people come from all over New Zealand to attend the classes and the feedback has been incredibly positive and supportive. For a first-time event it was amazing how well everything ran. A huge thanks to Jenny T, Allie, and Kathryn, to those who stepped in to help, and to the all the tutors. One of the things that has come out of this is that club day (Thursdays) is a great day for demonstrations. We are hoping this will continue and if you have a particular type of work that you are willing to demonstrate please let me know. Club days were originally set up for members to get-together to share ideas and discuss latest discoveries and generally have a good social time. It would be lovely to get this going again. If you would be interested in managing this, please get in touch. |
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