I recently visited the studio of New Zealand ceramic artist Jaime Jenkins located on her family’s land in the Ohauiti Hills. Jaime had just finished installing a show in Wellington at Precint35, so the wheels were clean and the clay was tucked away. In its place, I found a sense of calm and regeneration in both the environment and the artist. Jaime was putting her energy into a new dahlia patch in her garden, and finding homes for the tomato seedlings at her back door. We ate citrus from her trees while she tied ringers to my new little bells. In this moment of quiet, I got to observe the way in which she uses her own ceramics, either for entirely functional purposes or for complete pleasure, and gathered amongst those made by fellow potters she has worked with or learnt from — stacks of wonky little pieces, each embodying the gift of time, friendship and conversation.
