Gallery
Eketahuna.
Store hours – Saturday and Sunday 10am – 4pm
Weekdays – call the number in our window for someone to open up!!!!
Yes, we are a working studio, in this quiet town, we tend to get into some making when there is no one round!
BUT YOU ARE ALWAYS WELCOME!!
Our gallery is one the Main Street of this small rural town in a massive old blue building opposite the Pub.
Focusing on the ceramics we make here, there are also art pieces by locals.
Deborah Illingworth is our resident artist, living 10 kms inland at Nireaha. She has a splendid realistic style, original and refreshing work.
The move here was based on an experiment – will the locals learn ceramics as workers and hobbiest – to create an incubation environment for new ideas to be manufactured.
Because the some of pieces we make, began production in 1945, it is believed these will continue for decades.
Maybe Eketahuna will become a town of clay workers to compliment the farming and lifestyle community.
The Crown Lynn Story involved the largest ceramic factory in the southern hemisphere with over 700 people working there in the 70’s. We had some of the world leading experts in ceramics here – it began for getting in there and working it out – kiwi n08 wire technology.
The building has been upgraded to 67% NBS (New Building Standard for Earthquake safety ), and the challenge is on to save some old dry goods sheds out the back of the yard that will make great spaces for workshop studios.
We are a developing concept, renovating the old Wairarapa Farmers Co-Operative Association building into a dream studio and gallery.
Here you can view the largest collection of the work we make with many ranges that are not seen elsewhere, plus some experimental ideas, and one off pieces.
There is also a number of seconds – work with blemishes that can not be sold on to other retail stores, some really nice pieces that are total bargains.
Mathew says – ‘I was in Te Toi Uku, the Crown Lynn Museum in New Lynn Auckland, and one of the old managers of Crown Lynn was giving a talk. He looked straight at me and said the original factory decided to open a seconds shops out of the factory. It was a total success and did so well, they begain to manufacture seconds on purpose to keep the shop stocked!!!!”
In Eketahuna, you can see our best, grab a bargain, and spot some original work not seen elsewhere.
The pop over the road for a coffee in The Lazy Graze, as good a café as you will find anywhere……better even!!!!
