Born in Germany in 1959 I moved to New Zealand in the early 80's. I rediscovered pottery when my youngest child started school, joining the Auckland Studio Potters where I have recently completed a Diploma of Ceramic Art run by the Otago Polytechnic.

Lately my focus has been on making shino glazed bowls and cups.
To me a bowl is the ultimate domestic item, representing nourishment and sustenance. I aim for my bowls to be strong yet subtle with a timeless quality, as if they had been on the kitchen table feeding the family for a long time. Living on a farm north of Auckland gives me the opportunity to use clay from my own land. Faceting the exterior of the pot opens up the clay with all its impurities and creates an interesting surface for the shino glaze to interact with. The iron oxide decoration provides an extra focal point.

Shino is a glaze made from a local feldspar first used by the Mino potters in Japan in the 16th century. It became very popular with the Zen masters for their tea ceremonial wares. The crazing, the pin holing and crawling, and the way this glaze shows every mark and dribble, are all factors normally considered glaze defects. But they fitted perfectly into the Zen philosophy of wabi sabi. Shino’s white and brown surface has been compared to the last traces of winter snow, with the promise of spring in the air. But it is the interaction between the clay, the glaze and the fire that makes this glaze such a challenge. The Zen masters valued the fact that this glaze showed every impurity in the clay and every mark that the potter left.

I first became drawn to shino when I was searchng for a glaze to suit a particular pot. Once I started experimenting with this glaze I became fascinated with its compelling nature. Shino is an extremely sensitve glaze. Using the same clay and glaze in the same firing can produce completely different results. I never know what I will find when I open the kiln!

I had been thinking about building a small wood fired kiln at my place for years. Wood firing seemed like a natural progression to my work with shino. Shino is very well suited to the rhythm of the oxidation and reduction cycles typical for wood firing. And I am also interested in the effects that the ash itself has on clay and glaze. So last year (09) with the help and advice of Peter Lange, the director of our local pottery centre, I build a 30 cu-ft wood kiln. It fires to cone 11 in just 12 hours with a very nice ash deposit on the pots so it is easily managed by one person. Firing a wood kiln is providing a whole new challenge. I have to start all over again with the testing for suitable clays, slips and glazes with the wood fire adding yet another dimension in the form of ash. Opening the kiln has just become even more exciting!
 

2012

Gagjin International Ceramics exhibition, Gangjin, South Korea

International Tea Bowl Festival, Mungyeong, South Korea

Finalist, New Zealand Potter’s National Exhibition, Whangamata

2011

Finalist, Waiclay Exhibition, Waikato Museum, Hamilton

Finalist ‘Portage Trust Awards’, Lopdell House Gallery, Auckland

Merit Award, Domestic Ware Awards, Auckland Studio Potters

Gangjin International Ceramics Exhibition, Gangjin, South Korea

International Tea Bowl Festival, Mungyeong, South Korea

Finalist, New Zealand Potters National Exhibition, Auckland

2010

Merit Award, Domestic Ware Award, Auckland Studio Potters

Finalist ‘Portage Trust Awards’, Lopdell House Gallery, Auckland

Woodfire, Gallery Klosterdorf, Rostock, Germany

Great Expectations’, Group Exhibition, Estuary Arts Centre, Orewa

Mungyeong Traditional Tea Bowl Festival Exhibition, Mungyeong, Korea

2009

NZ Potters Merit Award, Ballantynes National Tableware Exhibition, Coca Gallery, Christchurch

Premier Award, Domestic Ware Award, Auckland Studio Potters

Gangjin Cultural Festival Exhibition of Invited International Potter’s Works, Gangjin, South Korea

Albarellos and Tea, Joint Exhibition with Duncan Shearer, Form Gallery, Christchurch

Traditional Tea Bowl Festival, Mungyeong, South Korea

Finalist, NZP National Exhibition, NZ Academy of Fine Arts Gallery, Wellington

2008

Australian University Award, Waiclay Exhibition, Waikato Museum, Hamilton

Celebrating Pottery, Joint Exhibition with Helen Yau, Stephen Bailey, Graham Collins, Jan Vodanovich, Grancy Fu and Yi-Ming Lin, Compendium Gallery, Auckland

Finalist ‘Portage Trust Awards Exhibition Lopdell House, Titirangi

Premier Award, ‘Fire and Clay’, Auckland Studio Potters

‘Tea Bowls’ Joint Exhibition with Campbell Hegan, Janet Mansfield and             Yoshikazu Takada, Compendium Gallery, Auckland

2007

‘Domestics’ Joint Exhibition with Ann Crane at North Art Gallery, Northcote

Merit Award ‘Cone City Clay’, New Zealand Potters Society Exhibition Compendium Gallery

Premier Award, Domestic Ware Awards, Auckland Studio Potters

New Faces, New Works’ an Exhibition by Otago Polytechnic Ceramic Students, North Art, Northcote

2006

Finalist ‘Portage Trust Awards' Exhibition Lopdell House, Titirangi

'New Faces’ Exhibition by Diploma students, North Art, Northcote

2003- 2007

Student Exhibition at Auckland Studio Potters, Onehunga

2000- 2009

‘Fire and Clay’, Annual Exhibition of the Auckland Studio Potters