Mike Perry Potter - Ceramic Figures and Tableware

I started my training at Waimea pottery with the Laird family. I learnt to throw pots, use a clay press and learnt a little about glazes.

In 1992 I started producing tableware from my home studio. I started to notice an ever-
increasing mechanical theme in my work. It fused itself to my plates, and I haven't been able to shake it off. I guess it wasn't such a big surprise - my family owned the garage and were engineers in Mapua, Nelson. So I developed all sorts of practical skills, with metal and mechanics. And this exposure to all things mechanical soaked into my core, like sump oil through a tea strainer. It's deep down in there somewhere.

The durability of old machinery interests me. They often proved unreliable and wore out, but were designed to be fixed time and time again, and so acquired a soul, from history, and hands that touched and wore their parts. To me they work a lot like my mind - cogs clanking, possibly a grinding sound, some smoke, then I can perform simple tasks.

I draw a lot of inspiration for my ceramic work from this uncomplicated time when machines also performed simple tasks and thanked you for a bit of grease once and a while.

I am still producing tableware. I have made some great wedding sets with images and ideas depicting the lives of the happy couple. A wide range of designs is available and your ideas can be incorporated into the work.
All my tableware is hand thrown ,so has a good feel , good handles,and a nice balance .