Friday Friends - Local Makers - Wonky Pot Pottery

Happy Friday lovely Maddabling readers. What did your week hold? We got our first ice-cream making machine which I am keen to road test on the weekend. I am going to try some fruit and coconut cream based sorbet-ish frozen desserts. Was thinking on a black cherry, coconut cream with a touch of cacao powder and dessicated coconut to make a choc-cherry-coconut, the possibilities are now truly endless! This weekend will see Maddabling share with you the gorgeous goodies she recently received from the DUST Team Craft Swap and an Easter Egg project too :) 

This week it is my absolute pleasure to introduce you to a new Friday Friend and local maker - meet the super talented team - Vicki and David from Wonky Pot Pottery. 

I first met Vicki at the Denmark Arts Market a few years back, quite by chance. We got chatting as creatives do....

I have found this dynamic duo create an endless array of the loveliest things from clay including gorgeous jewellery

the sweetest coloured bowls

fantastic gift tags

and waaaaay too many other wonderful goodies to share with you!
I invite you to find out more from the lovely Vicki as she tells you The Tale of Wonky Pot Pottery below. 

The Tale of Wonky Pot Pottery

Wonky Pot Pottery was named by our son using the ‘wonky pot’ on 

the bench. This was a wheel thrown then altered large open bowl 
that was waiting to go out to the Oranje Tractor Winery for
display and sale. After much laughter the name stuck!

Pottery was something I had always dreamed of doing. A cancer 
journey meant early retirement and a change in direction with 
my life. I found peace and a sense of achievement when working 

with clay. To accomplish the simplest of tasks with clay, you 
have to be completely in the moment. You can’t be rushing or 
fussing, the clay must be approached with sensitivity and 
consideration to its limitations. David was soon caught in the 
spell of working with clay too, to take wet earth and create an 
object of simple elegant form that is functional but beautiful
too.

For now our passion is for wheel thrown pieces of a style that
could be described as functional ware. Our pieces are to be 
used and enjoyed. We strive for that new technique that will 
open possibilities. To find new ways to take the basic form and 
then alter or decorate or use a luscious glaze to enhance but 
not remove its ‘function’ and elegance.

We regularly make items such as bowls of every size, jugs and 
pouring batter bowls, platters, mugs and accessories. A new item
that races out the door as fast as they are made are Yarn or
Knitting bowls, your ball of wool sits inside and the thread 
runs out either a hole or a slot.  I have worked with customers 
to make many colourful and individual designs that were given 
as special and unique gifts. We welcome custom design enquiries
across our range.

Bendigo Bank Great Southern Art Trail 2013 was our first
exhibition with our pottery, held at the Oranje Tractor Winery
in their newly expanded Cellar Door and Café area. 

David demonstrated on the wheel most days (which was amazingly 
helpful for new stock for the markets) and I demonstrated 
decorating and design styles. We will be returning to the
Oranje Tractor Winery for the 2014 Great Southern Art Trail.  
Pam and Murray have the best coffee and food, in the loveliest 
Organic Gardens around!

David is currently building an extension to my shed to install 
a larger gas kiln that will take our work down another clay 
path. He also has a full time ‘day’ job that limits his time 
in the studio at the moment but it is lovely to spend creative 
evenings at our wheels being serenaded by the neighbouring frogs.

This Years Market Season is nearly over. We are next at the 

Denmark Arts Market on Easter Saturday. 
The 3^rd of May sees us participating in the Vintage Street Fair 
at the Vancouver Arts Centre. 
Our very last market for the season will be the Torbay Hall
Markets on Sunday the 4^th of May, a fun and friendly day.

Our Facebook page will help you keep up  with the latest 
happenings. 

In the development of our business we will be looking to expand 
into online markets and eventually a web page of our own. But our 
core focus will remain the challenge and satisfaction of making 
quality pottery, continually learning and experimenting. 
We love that our pottery becomes part of peoples homes and lives,
the joy of knowing that our work has been chosen with care as a 
gift for someone they love or a piece they have bought for
themselves. This is the reward that has no price. 

It is why presenting our pottery at Markets is an important

part of the process, in development of styles and designs, 
and getting to know who our customers are and what will suit 
their needs the best.  

Dear readers, do you want to see more Wonky Pot Goodness? Here is 
how you can connect.
Become a follower on Facebook here: 
http://www.facebook.com/WonkyPotPottery

Catch Wonky Pot Pottery in person at:
The Denmark Arts Market on Easter Saturday 19th April 2014 

The Vintage Street Fair at Vancouver Arts Centre on 3rd May 2014
The Torbay Markets at Torbay Hall on Sunday 4th May 2014

Friday Friends - Local Artists - Wonky Pot Pottery

Welcome to Friday lovely Maddabling blog readers. I hope you have had a wonderful week

and of course, in the Southern Hemisphere, today brings the first "official" day of Winter ! 

I have been enjoying a lemongrass and ginger tea which is helping to keep the cold weather

chills at bay. This week it is my great pleasure to introduce to you a local artist that I met at 

the Denmark Markets a little while ago now - meet Vicki from Wonky Pot Pottery!

Vicki makes fabulous things out of clay. I was never very good at pottery at school so I truly admire 

those who have the patience and skill to create with clay ! I have been having a good nose around the

photos on Vicki's facebook page and want to share some of my finds with you now. I must admit

I did buy one of Vicki's sweet pendants from market and it is a firm favourite in my jewellery 

collection! Here is a selection of finds for you to browse :) 

I hope dear readers that this gives you a taste of the the pieces Vicki creates and that you enjoy 

the Wonderous Tale of Wonky Pot Pottery. For those in Western Australia, have a wonderful long 

weekend and stay warm and dry ! 

The Wonderous Tale of Wonky Pot Pottery

Hi everyone - I'm Vicki, the face behind Wonky Pot Pottery. 

Wonky Pot Pottery was given its name when our son was looking for a bowl during 

a family get together and asked if he could use the wonky pot on the bench. This was 

a wheel thrown then altered large open bowl that was waiting to go out to the 

Oranje Tractor Winery for display. After much laughter the name stuck and every time 

someone remarks on the name I am reminded of my wonderful family and the joy they 

bring David and I!

Pottery was something I had always dreamed of doing, but as so many other Mums (and Dads) 

often do, concentrated on family first. A series of cancer hiccups over many years meant that 

an early retirement 4 or so years ago was a change in direction with my life. David and I went off 

to night classes in pottery for a ‘date night’. I found a peace and sense of achievement when

working with clay. To accomplish the simplest of tasks with clay such as centring on the wheel, 

you have to be completely in the moment. There can be nothing else in that moment. 

David was soon caught in the spell of working with clay too, to take wet earth and create an 

object of simple elegant form that is functional but beautiful too.

You may take your lump of clay with a goal or result in mind, you can ‘make’ it become 

a bowl or vase or jug or anything that you want, but it is also being ‘open’ to possibilities 

that can be revealed as you begin to open out the vessel. Finding strength and beauty 

from a new direction from a ‘mistake’ or a ‘weakness’.

My work is primarily created using mid-fired earthenware clay that I can fire in my own kiln.  

This clay was a challenge after using stoneware clay for a few years, as it is quite ‘soft’ so 

needs to be approached with sensitivity and consideration to its limitations. It can’t and 

won’t be rushed.  Bit like me I suppose!

For now our passion is for wheel thrown pieces of a style that could be described as 

functional ware.  Our pieces are to be used and enjoyed. We strive for that new technique 

that will open possibilities. I am always looking to create the ‘perfect’ bowl. To find new ways

to take the basic form and then alter or decorate or use a luscious glaze to enhance but not

remove its ‘function’ and elegance.

David is currently building a raku kiln that will take our work down another creative path. 

He also has a full time ‘day’ job that limits his time in the studio at the moment but it is 

thanks to him that our wheels and kilns work as well as they do. I am currently working on 

a range of teapots that will be seen first at the Denmark Arts Markets later this year. 

Teabags should have removed the need for such items, but I must have one of my own!  

A classic example of a traditional piece of functional ware, that is composed of several parts

that are put together in such a way that they are beautiful and/or interesting, but still 

pours a cup of tea well!

We look forward to meeting old friends and new when we get back into the 

2012/13 Market Season. Keep an eye on the facebook page for when and where! 

It is very satisfying to find new homes for our pottery, good thing too as we may be 

buried under all those pots that have simply had to be made!

Dear readers - would you like to see more ? You can connect with Wonky Pot Pottery by  

becoming a facebook follower here to keep up with all the latest Wonky Pot Pottery News : 

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Wonky-Pot-Pottery/188996241129347