Nelson Suter Art Society

to promote and encourage the cultivation and production of work in the visual arts

I was a practising potter in Golden Bay from 1975 to 1979 and then in Waimea West until 1993. During that time, I made a range of thrown pots, mainly domestic ware. I used a large wood kiln for both conventionally glazed, salt glazed and saggar fired work and had a large output of plant pots and pit fired work. There are pieces of my work in the collections of the Suter Art Gallery, the Canterbury Museum and the Christchurch Art Gallery.

As a teacher I held numerous workshops in New Zealand and taught summer schools in California for three months in 1987. As a writer I had stories published in pottery and craft magazine all over the world and was the craft correspondent for the NZ Listener for a decade from 1987.

 

In 1990 I became editor of Craft NZ, a quarterly magazine published by the Craft Council of NZ. On their demise a year later, I took ownership of the magazine, publishing until the end of 1993.

 

In 1994 I joined the Nelson Mail as a sub-editor, remaining in a similar role with Fairfax NZ until retiring in 2015. During those years I worked mainly in page design and layout and had a small role as arts editor at the Mail.

 

In late 2022 I was encouraged by friends to establish a small suburban workshop close to town with my wife Cathie Lindsey.

 

I'm still new to the use of an electric kiln and slightly lower temperatures, so every firing is a bit of a step into the unknown.

 

My work is still based around domestic pottery. I aim to shows the marks of the making process and to develop glazes which accentuate the irregularities of the clay surface.

 

Not having to make a living from pottery production is a great liberating force and I'm enjoying following whatever whims I have in the making of new forms.