Ailsa Cowan Studio

Hello and welcome

Hi, I'm Ailsa Cowan and I've been working with ceramics on & off for 35+years. It started when I was 14yrs old, and it's still an obsession; whether its making or collecting.

Since coming to New Zealand in 2005, my love for ceramics was reignited and I have been teaching and selling my work for the past 10 years in Nelson.

My passion is definitely hand building, using the basic techniques of pinch, coil and slab to make mostly sculptural, decorative work. Now and again a little throwing on the wheel is required.

I get a lot of joy & pleasure seeing a new form come to life, adding another layer of texture or colour, trying out a new idea, exploring how far I can push the clays limits. I believe once you have the basic principles of working with clay the only limit is your own imagination. Yet letting go of what society expects and what you prefer to make is the hardest yet most rewarding moment.

Influences are definitely the nature that surrounds us; the weather, the landscape, animals, colours, plants, rocks, sky or sea, it's all there influencing our decisions.

I offer private pottery classes in a friendly, relaxed atmosphere for 1 on 1 or up to a maximum of 3 people, with lessons on hand building techniques- pinch pot, coil, stretching clay, adding texture, slab building & much more. You will learn how to make ideas come to life, problem solving each stage: making, firing and glazing.

Towards the end of making a piece you must come to a point when you accept that the shape, size, texture(s) are right, and that the glaze idea will complement and work with the finished piece.