Welcome to the website and blog of Rahu Road Pottery and Gallery
A busy couple of weeks making by Charade and I and we managed to get enough pots ready for the firing. Laurie helped out immensely by providing about 2/3 of the timber – a curious mixture of pallets and very old Rimu, retrieved from a farmers field. This was added to our pine and gum stash. Rose was also onboard and even a few pieces from the Paeroa Potters. Starting…
My ’Taming of the Kiln’ workshop attracted 6 keen participants, eager to learn the tricks of loading and firing my wood kiln. They brought with them boxes full of pots that needed glazing and the spaying of slips on the outsides – all depending on what clays they had used. It meant the load had a big range of clay/slip/glaze combinations. The loading went smoothly with lots of help rolling…
With the first kiln firing workshop only days away I’ve been busy building a new constant gradient path from the carpark up to the kiln for the wood trolley. The future plans include a motorised winch to do all the heavy lifting. Also realised that without a balustrade around the kiln deck and with 6 keen stokers I might loose someone over the edge! So that’s now all safe with…
This firing was crucial, testing of new clays, slips, glazes and a large commission (to help pay for the new lighting) were all going into this one kiln load. To add to the fraught mix was a new supply of wood (gum generously donated by our neighbour) that we hoped was dry enough. The weather was the one factor that played into our hands with a fine spell just in-time…
And so it came to pass that the electrician visited our studio, and lo and behold a marvellous sight was seen. Actually it was two local sparkies and lots of cable, but we now have offical power and oodles of light. What a difference it is to be able to work at night, or even when it gets gloomy. This is also one of the last steps we needed to…
The days of entering the studio over a gangway are over. The long planned for deck between the studio and retaining wall is finally in place and makes the connection between the studio and kilns a much less fraught affair. Still a bit of landscaping and drainage to sort, but the improvement was pretty much the instant I laid the boards in-front of the door.
We’re excited that our classes are finally about to get underway, so if you’re interested please let us know and we can reserve you a place in the class. Dates: Wednesday 22nd February to 12th April (8 weeks), 4pm to 5.30pm Cost $120, includes: clay & firing Minimum number of students: 4 Ages: 7 to 14 Tutor: Charade Honey This new pottery class will teach a range of skills, covering…
Our final firing for the year, shared with the Paeroa Potters and Rose was a good one to finish the year. We dropped cone 11 in 13 hours, burning about 30 pallets. This time a combination of drizzle and really dry fresh pine meant we had serious reduction for the firing, really enhancing the tan and ochre colours of the white stoneware clays. On my clay mix, which uses clay…
It takes a while to work up the courage to hack into the brand new tin walls of the workshop. I had to figure out where to put the windows and how to configure the 6 individual sashes that I had bought off TradeMe. My builder, Rudolph, helped immensely by milling the timber for the frame at his workshop. My job was to assemble the frames, frame up the holes,…
Charade is taking part in an exhibition curated by Bronwynne Cornish at The Vivian Gallery in Matakana, opening this coming Saturday 24th September. Artist’s Statement My work for this show has evolved from a question of our relationship to place, whenua (land); how do we honour and protect where we live? The second biggest gold mining company in the world is investigating the land surrounding the area where I live. The…
