McGlashens call time on pottery

Royce and Trudi McGlashen say it’s time to do other things as the for sale sign goes up on their renowned pottery studio in Brightwater.

Royce, who has been potting for 56 years, has been an integral part of the arts community since establishing the studio nearly five decades ago.

“I’ve always liked creating things with my hands,” says Royce, whose father was a hobby potter and mother an accomplished watercolour artist.

“As a child, I often went on field days with my father exploring to source clay, which then had to be mixed up in the old washing machine tub and poured through stockings to remove the course material.”

In 1966 Royce undertook a five-year apprenticeship with Jack Laird, founder of Waimea Pottery, qualifying as a master potter in 1971.

Keen on an O.E., Royce headed to Queensland where he worked for Montville Pottery before travelling to South Africa then Great Britain, working for Le Dieu Pottery in Norwich.

He returned home to Richmond in 1975.

His vacant piece of land on Beach Rd and a stack of fire bricks salvaged from the old Nelson gas works gave Royce the opportunity to build a kiln and establish his studio.

“I’d advertise in the paper a kiln opening day and people would come, which gave me a great connection to the customer and their direct feedback.”

A pottery exhibition is where Royce met his wife, and business partner, Trudi. Both keen to travel before starting a family they journeyed to Australia, South America and England, exploring the art of pottery and crafts.

“Just before we left, the adjourning landowners in Beach Rd came forward wanting to buy our land so they could expand. We negotiated with them but hadn’t clinched anything, so we instructed our lawyer that if the sale went ahead to put in an offer for us on a Brightwater property that was opposite our old cob house there,” Trudi explains.

Communication then meant the couple received the news, advising them their offer on the Brightwater property had been accepted, via an aerogram letter collected at the Trinidad NZ embassy.

Their return was a busy time commissioning a build for the workshop and gallery that stands on the site today, as well as rebuilding the kiln.

The journey hasn’t been without its challenges and Royce says it was a particularly hard time for potters in the early 80’s with tax changes and restrictions on imports dropped.

“A lot of potters left the market at this time, they couldn’t compete with it,” Royce explains.

“Most of the imports were round and quite conventional, so we started looking at shapes, sizes, and points of difference.”

From this came the highly distinguished shell bowls full of texture and reflecting our country’s unique surroundings. The couple both say that having loyal, long-serving staff has made their journey possible.

“Without Dave Cooper, Leanne Woods, and the weekend ladies none of it would have been possible,” Royce says.

The couple have enjoyed every step, however, they both agree it’s time to do other things that they want to do.