Kay Ogilvies Pottery Studio

It is with great delight I am opening my studio up again after needing to be closed for the past two years. My studio is part of the cliff top home and overlooks the Hauraki Golf. I’m completely happy sitting in such a beautiful space creating work that is inspiring and thought provoking.
I first felt the magic of clay when pottery was one of the subjects taught in the design course I was doing at Polytech, 30 years ago. I was immediately enchanted by the feel of clay, the way it responded to every touch, the heat and noise of the kiln being fired, the buckets of sludgy glaze that would transform (usually!) into beautiful colours.
Today I am just as captivated by that magic, still experimenting, still learning, still loving it. Rarely do I have my hands out of the clay, forming it into platters and bowls, figures, dancing women, dresses, garden pots, flowers, totem poles, cups, tumblers, vases and lots more.
My most current work keeps calling me to the edges of ‘what I think should work’. I am constantly surprised at how far I can push boundaries, stretching and stressing the clay, then asking totally unsuitable pieces to stay standing even though it is full of cracks and fissures! I find deep satisfaction with the earthiness of these works, the clay’s sense of endurance, surfaces with bumpy textures, hollows and irregularities, all with a hint of the abstract. I feel so satisfied and full of joy when works make it through the entire journey, emerging whole from the kiln, and once again inspiring me into a new experimentation.
My studio is full of beautiful works and a great place to buy Christmas presents. I hope you get some of the same pleasure from my work as I do creating it. Open most days - when the sign is out or ring first