Retirement is a good idea

But not always possible

I haven’t been writing much lately, but I’ve had a good excuse. I’ve left retired life temporarily behind and my life has been turned upside down.

I’ve told this story before, but it all began more than a year ago when I was asked to write an essay about my life as a potter - 1975-1993. That wasn’t exactly the subject, but those were the memories that were revived.

The memories stirred some forgotten ambitions and despite 30 years of denial, suddenly I was making pots again.

By September this year, we were starting to get an abundance of pots, but we had no plan to get rid of them. As well, the costs of setting up our little pottery had risen into the thousands of dollars - who’d have thought?

How to start selling this stuff and recoup some of the expense? I put out a few feelers and within the past two months we’ve been overwhelmed with opportunities.

We’ve become members of a collective at Wall to Wall Art in Nelson, so we have a regular outlet.

A few opportunities have come up to exhibit in group shows. We’ve been in the Suter Art Society’s Spring Exhibition. We’ll have a couple of pieces in the exhibition Fire and Earth, which runs for three months at the Suter, over summer (opens November 18). Also, in the art society’s summer exhibition in the McKee Gallery, at the back of the Suter.

But what’s really caused the overload is an opportunity that arrived after we’d taken on all these other things. 

It was an opportunity that was going to stretch the resources but was too good to miss.

I’m going to have a solo exhibition at the Refinery Gallery on Hardy St. The Refinery is run by Arts Council Nelson. The space I have to occupy is huge - it’ll be the biggest solo exhibition I’ve ever had.

I’ve made a list of likely contenders for the space and I’ve written out a schedule of when I’m going to make them. Right now, I’m working my way through all the large pieces.

It’s a stressful time as I grapple with large lumps of clay and try to bludgeon them into submission. Many of them are pots made from multiple large pieces of clay, so as I throw each piece, I have to carefully measure its dimensions so that the various pieces join up as they should.

I’d show you some photos, but my business advisor insists on keeping them secret until the grand reveal.

She’s such a tease.

A hint is that they’re tall enough to just fit into the kiln. In fact, I’ve been measuring one in particular to see if it shrinks enough as it dries, otherwise it won’t fit at all. The height when dry has to be less that 540mm, so this group of nine pots is going to be a statement (if they live to tell the tale).

I’ve made dozens of our favourite little tea bowls.

We’ve invented some great new glazes.

It’s exciting, it’s exhausting, but we’re on track (so far).

The exhibition opens at the Refinery Gallery in Hardy St Nelson at 5.30pm on Monday December 4.

The gallery has three spaces, so we’ll share the opening with the artists in the other two spaces.

At our last opening, at Wall to Wall, we gave away 50 wine beakers. They didn’t last long.

Since the December 4 opening will be shared with the other artists, it’s not appropriate to do that sort of giveaway.

At 5.30pm on Friday December 8, we’ll have another occasion. This will be a floor talk, where I get to rave about the wonders of it all.

We’ll have 100 of our prized beakers to give away this time, filled with wine from the fabulous Riverby Estate Winery. Our wonderful friend Sali, who supports us hugely, has made this possible.

If you’re in Nelson, please come along to one of these occasions. If you can only do one - come on the Friday, when we give away the beakers and then talk about the philosophy that lies behind them.

I promise to write a more interesting column next time. As I churn my way through hundreds of kilograms of clay, many thoughts meander their way through the grey matter.

I’ll share some of them with you soon.

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