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Mountain Dreaming
Mountain Dreaming Summer School in Clay 2011 - A summary by Wanda Baker
Between 22nd and 25th January 20 enthusiastic clay workers gathered at Mountain Dreaming Arts Workshop on the slopes of Mt Karioi with experienced and inspirational clay tutors Susan flight and Manos Nathan, to participate in what has become a welcome annual fixture on the Raglan Arts calendar. Many of the participants were attending for the third or fourth time and book themselves for the following year.
With Susan Flight- An Otherworld journey in clay, and Manos Nathan- The Whakapapa of Clay, water and fire. The workshop was held at Mountain Dreaming Arts from January 22nd-25th 2011. Both Susan and Manos are well known clay artists and exhibitors on the national scene. Manos has been instrumental in the development of the Maori ceramic movement and Susan established Mountain Dreaming Arts Workshop. She has a substantial exhibiting port folio having shown her work in more than 40 solo shows, in NZ, Oz and elsewhere.
Twenty off us, many experienced, a few novices like me, braved the elements and detours as we began at Mountain Dreaming. Let’s not mention the weather, which had we known would be akin to Cyclone Mayhem up the mountain, some of us might have dressed for the occasion. Inside out umbrellas, gumboots, and warm gear were the requirements for four seasons in one day. Clay work was in no way diminished by the driving rain or chilly gusts that hammered Susan’s wonderful working studio’s in her converted woolshed at Waimaunga Rd, on the lower slopes of Karioi and the clay work began. We rolled out and thumped wads of clay into shapes that would be transformed by the end of Saturday into something recognizable. At least that’s what we hoped.
Occasional drifts of clouds disappeared and we caught a glimpse of the stunning vista from karioi over towards Aotea harbour, green hills, misty driven clouds, wind turbines swinging hastily in the near gale force winds, all added to a brilliant opening morning where we worked to explore traditional clay carving, mask making, kiln building with Manos whose calm and creative countenance debated with other s whether or not this particular weather would allow the soil to dry sufficiently to build a turf kiln and if not there were probably other options. Others were upstairs with Susan working on mythical creatures incorporating elements of the human and animal worlds, using clay to express inter-connection and our relationship with other species or fantasy creatures.
Other clay artists presented tutorials and talks over lunch. John Charteris spoke about the natural world of Raglan, Aotea and Kawhia and inspired us to look closely at his collection of local rock forms. Robyn Lloyd talked of her passion and showed her works in progress: harakeke and handbuilt clay pots influenced by some of her childhood experiences in Ethiopia.
What a blast. Over four days I created a baby sphinx/griffin creature with claws, horns, plaited wings, always threatening to collapse into itself, but not quite. Both the resilience of clay, lots of newspaper for padding and my tenacity determined that the being I created continued to emerge miraculously out of my clumsy hands and all too familiar imaginative world.
As a novice, I did not know you could build kilns out of newspaper and slip, hard to imagine a kiln inside a paper case and as a novice I knew very little about clay and it’s alchemy or the chemistry of glazes, or burnishing finishes which many participating in this wonderful workshop knew all about and generously shared their knowledge. I followed and learned and am grateful for the experience of a new and unfamiliar medium that will continue to impact my artmaking.
Posted: Mon 14 Feb 2011
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