About me
Coralie Winn is a Ōhinehou Lyttelton-based potter who creates bespoke ceramics & teaches classes locally at Ata Ceramics.
Kia ora. I’m Coralie. I’m a potter based in Ōhinehou Lyttelton, Aotearoa New Zealand.
I predominantly make domestic ware for daily use on a potter’s wheel. I use a range of New Zealand clays such as stoneware, earthenware and some found clays. As well as wheel-thrown work, I do some handbuilding, enjoying the different, more sculptural way of working and the irregular surfaces this technique yields. I am interested in how my pots can connect to and convey a sense of place.
I fire in electric (oxidation) and gas (reduction) kilns. I use quite a lot of ash glazes in both environments. The ash I use is either given to me from friends and students or from my own home fire place. I have for some time been testing single species ashes in reduction such as alder, cherry, apricot and others. I dream of one day building a wood kiln with others.
As the hours spent potting extend into the thousands, I find myself far more drawn to pots that have a life to them. Nuanced forms with a range of surfaces that convey the beauty of the material and the heat that transforms them from clay into ceramic. To paraphrase Shoji Hamada, beauty can express itself fully when it joins with utility. I think when one sits with this, it allows you to really appreciate ceramics as an art form. Only when we use these pieces, do they reach their full potential.
I enjoy teaching and work to create a relaxed, welcoming atmosphere that encourages students to play with clay and learn the skill of wheel throwing with patience and much practice. I focus on skills development rather than object production. I have come to see first-hand just how therapeutic working with clay can be.
Classes/Workshops/Intensive
Term-based wheel classes at Ata Ceramics. To sign up to mailing list for info and notifications about new courses/spaces email coralie.winn@gmail.com. These classes usually run for the same length as the school term, for 2 hours per week. Day and evening classes.
To view any current classes with spaces available at Ata, click here. You can sign up to the mailing list to hear about classes there too.
Commissions
I am open to commissions depending on the fit with my work, quantity required and my capacity. Take a look at my Glaze Samples page as a guide for what I can do as well as my Instagram account. Please get in touch to discuss. I also offer wholesale prices to shops/galleries.
Stockists
Aside from Ata Ceramics (where I am based) I have work available at Frances Nation (Arts Centre, ChCh) Henry Trading (Lyttelton), at Captains Quarter Gallery (Akaroa). There are also some of my best pieces for sale from time to time on this website here.
Background
After exploring decorative ceramics in my early 20s, I left that hobby for more than a decade before returning to learn wheel throwing, starting in 2014. I was taught master potter Frederika Ernsten’s throwing technique by my teacher Gael Abraham. What began as a hobby is now much more. It’s a vocation, a skill, a practice, a need and an outlet. I began teaching wheel-throwing for beginners at Ata Ceramics in Lyttelton in 2019, covering founder Grace Uivel’s maternity leave and then never leaving. I now manage the Ata studio day-to-day and have my own studio space out back. I also run the occasional handbuilding workshop or wheel taster session for small groups.
As well as being in love with clay and its possibilities, I am quite the generalist. I am the co-founder and inaugural director of Gap Filler. I am a former ensemble member of Free Theatre Christchurch and I have worked for the Arts Centre of Christchurch running their Artist in Residence Programme pre-quake as well as for the University of Canterbury running the SoFA Gallery at the Arts Centre. I have travelled widely, worked in hospitality and the festival and events industry, worked at the Lyttelton Farmers market on and off for years and have two children; one daughter and one son. Aside from potting I love being in water - swimming, surfing, snorkelling, you name it - preserving and foraging, gardening, drinking coffee, learning and speaking languages and being out in Aotearoa’s stunning natural places. I was born in Adelaide, Australia and have lived in Aotearoa since 2005.
