Jenny Shearer & the 70s dames keep on potting
14 Jul 2025, Rachel Healy
This article first appeared in The Post, 17 July 2025.
This article first appeared in The Post, 17 July 2025.
The 70s gave us flares, colour TV and a love of pottery. It also sparked a lifelong friendship between three Wellington potters, Anneke Borren, Jenny Shearer and Pamella Annsouth, and all three still have their hands in the clay – a combined 150 years of experience. The trio had their first joint exhibition at Pātaka seven years ago and have returned there this month for a fifth group show, The 70s Dames.
During our 50 years of making clay works, Anneke, Pamela and I were fortunate to be in the initial wave of pottery enthusiasts, at a time when the round-brown-pot was selling like hot cakes. In 1987, with David Lange and Rogernomics, import restrictions were lifted and New Zealand was suddenly swamped with ceramics, from German whiteware to colourful Italian designs. New Zealand potters noticed sales starting to diminish, and it was a slow downhill trajectory from there, although a number of us did soldier on.
My theory about the revival is that COVID-19 gave people time on their hands and a desire to do something practical. The TV show The Great Pottery Throwdown has also been influential – people love it. I know that Wellington Potters’ Association used to average about 200 paying members, but since Covid that’s up to 600 members with a waiting list. This may also be because potting is so good for one’s wellbeing. Every piece of clay is a piece of someone’s life; the clay sings to them and for them.
Well, I think it’s evolved quite recently actually, since I’ve been learning about my Māori heritage. Like many New Zealand potters, I was traditionally influenced by British potter Bernard Leach in the Anglo-Asian style that he developed over many trips to Japan. I’ve always liked the Japanese aesthetic, but the more I learn about my whakapapa, the more my work shifts – it seems to come naturally. My great-great-grandmother was Ani Rangitunoa (Ngāti Kahungunu), third wife of Auckland politician William Swanson and a master weaver. I’ve visited our marae at Manutuke near Gisborne, and my brother is now fluent in te reo, with all my children learning.
I’ve always liked to make useful pottery – cups and bowls – but recently my conventional teapots have become more decorative – my designer cat teapots are particularly popular.
Yes, I studied ceramics in the UK at the Gloucestershire School of Art in Stroud. I only did a year before my husband’s work took us home to New Zealand. A long pause followed while I had four children, but I resumed potting in the 1970s. My husband, David, built me a large kiln (45 cubic feet), and as soon as my children were at school, I’d start potting.
It’s a potter’s world in New Zealand; it’s a wonderful vibe.
Barry was our very good friend. He was so welcoming of potters and their families, and I’d visit Driving Creek (his Coromandel home) with my children in the school holidays. When David retired, we decided we loved it so much that we’d move to Coromandel. We bought land and lived and worked near Barry for 12 years. David had been a hobby potter, but he decided to also go full-time, and it became a wonderful partnership; a wonderful way for us to work together. There’s so much to do when you are a potter, so it was brilliant to share the jobs.
We only sold up and moved South again to care for my mother. She died a year later, and David the following year. I kept potting through it all, and I’ve never stopped. It’s an addictive occupation; there’s a certain Zen quality in handling the earth in a circular motion. And I’m going to keep going. Anneke, Pamella and I are all getting older, so I don’t know if there’ll be another exhibition, but we’ll still be potting.
The 70s Dames continues at Pātaka Art+Museum until 27 July. Free entry.
