Nau mai e hoa mā!
Come along to our annual WSP Matariki shin-dig
Saturday 11th July
10am - 4pm
We're getting together to celebrate Matariki at Caroline Hamilton's property in Tuhikaramea, where we can share a kai, good company and convo, and a pit firing. This event is for everyone, members, non-members, friends, partners, children - everyone. We'd love for you to join us.
Kai
Since we are celebrating Matariki we have decided to have a shared BBQ lunch.
Bring along some kai to put on the grill, some veg/salad, and a bottle or two of your favourite drink. Matariki is a time to come together over kai, to remember our ancestors, and look forward to the future as a whanau and a community. Ngaa mihi nui.
Pit Firing
We're also firing up the giant pit again for you to get some of that gorgeous earthy goodness on your pots! It's optional as well, but we don't get to do this too often, so take this opportunity to try it out, and experiement! This is a free event, but we'd love you to register so we have an indication of how many people will be coming.
WSP is covering the cost of the magic dust, and we've been hoarding wood off-cuts and sawdust all year to fuel the fire.
No limit on how many pots you can put in the pit, bring along any bisque-fired pots you're hoping to fire and we'll see how many we can fit into the pit!
Other Shin-Dig Info
- BYO drinks, a chair, and a kai to share (BBQ options encouraged)
- Alcoholic drinks welcome, but please drink responsibly and ensure you get home safely.
- If you're travelling from Hamilton and making a right-turn into Caroline's gate, you may want to consider carrying on up the road 30 metres and turning around at Gilmore Rd and coming back, as the right-turn into the drive can be a little dangerous.
Other Pit Firing Info
- Bring bisque fired pots to load into the pit - no limit, let's see how many we can fit in!
- Good clays for pit firing are raku clays and other slightly grogged clays, but feel free to experiment with any other clays you might be interested in.
- We'll make up a mix of "magic dust" to sprinkle through the kiln. This is a mixture of salt and copper carbonate, which produces the reds synonymous with pit-fired pottery.
- You can also bring your own combustibles and colourants to include in the fire, or wrap your individual pots in. Good materials include copper wire, old nails, seaweed, salt, banana peels, coffee grounds, bones, eggshells and many others...
- Burnishing and terra sigillata are also methods you might consider using on your pots - they produce a very smooth surface, which lends itself to waxing the finished pot for that satiny shine.
- Find more info on the pit-firing process, colourants and combustibles from these resources:
https://www.upinsmokepottery.com/pit-firing.html
https://community.ceramicartsdaily.org/topic/6293-what-are-your-pit-fire-must-dos-or-must-haves/
- Do you have any pine cones? We'd love to use them in the fire! Please bring along any you have.
- Please note that pots fired by this method are seldom vitrified and so are not likely to be water-tight or food safe.
Hope to see you all there!
Mānawatia a Matariki
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