This year the Bethlehem Pottery Club held its exhibition at Bob Owens Retirement Village, Bethlehem.
A great variety of pottery styles and mediums were on display. There were some working exhibits as well and David De Witt had one of his African style pots that he was working on. He had done his fine arts degree in Africa with one of his tutors who was African showing him how to use the traditional patterns on pots and the symbolic meanings behind them. Their simple style belied the work that went into them.
If you thought that pottery was brown and was made by working a lump of clay on a pottery wheel, think again. The pottery on display was shiny, decorated, plain, coloured, and more with many different techniques used for the variety of items.
There was vibrant chunky necklaces, a stunning copper coloured pot by Alec Roy, lovely everyday use bowls by Jane Clark, Murray Garner’s beautifully coloured glazed bowls and pots and sculptures including some brick style pieces by Anne Pritchard. Annet Pilz’s patterned plates and condiment set were highly decorative and I could see the influence of Irene Tuscia Falconer in her work as she had worked at Irene’s Rolling Cloud gallery. Every exhibitor had a different style, they were well displayed and there many beautiful original pieces for sale at very reasonable prices.
Diane Hume-Green. Diane is a regular contributor to ARTbop through her column Scene About Town. Totally Tauranga and a member of a well-known and longstanding musical and business family Diane has a spectrum of cultural interests land a wide variety of community and cultural involvements.
