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