The Clay Centre

As a fulltime potter for many years, it had always been a dream of mine to open a teaching studio. My vision was to be able to have a studio that would be accessible and available to all potters, no matter what their level of interest. Finally, together with my husband David and the support of our family, we opened our doors in July 2019. We found the perfect building and set to work, figuring out as we went along how everything would be laid out. David is the quintessential do-it-yourself Kiwi, and he set about figuring out what we needed, and how to build it. Lots of late nights, our children helping us paint the floors, our friends bringing over meals, we opened and released our first set of classes. They all sold! We started with one wheel throwing classroom, a hand building classroom, and a dedicated Members area, so that our students could join up as members and practise their new skills, much like a pottery gym. Our members area built up over time despite the lockdowns.