Potter takes seat at new wheel
There are four things Anneke Borren needs, and not one of them is a house.
‘‘A good chair, a good mattress, a sound system and a long view is all I want.’’
After 27 years in her Porirua home and studio, the 71-year-old potter is buying a campervan and plans to travel the country.
‘‘I’ll be stuffed if anyone puts me in a rest home.’’
It’s just the latest adventure for the artist, one of New Zealand’s best-known potters.
Yesterday, as Borren talked about moving on, 425 pieces of art she created or collected over the past 40 years were being prepared for auction in Auckland.
The move has been motivated by the limited finances of a professional potter but also her failing health.
The art to which she has dedicated her life has hurt her; years bent over the potter’s wheel have damaged her neck to the point it sometimes stops her from working.
‘‘There’s always a consequence and this is one of them.’’
She would not give up her art but, like many older potters, she would slow down, she said.
‘‘We’re getting older and it’s such a physical job that our bodies are wearing out. It has been hard but I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.’’
The house will be sold but it’s not the end of her Porirua connection. Friends have offered her the use of their Plimmerton studio, which is where she will base herself.
She plans to travel the country, stopping at friends’ houses and pottery schools, where she will teach the next generation.
‘‘It’s one of the reasons why I want to be on wheels. To go there, to get that long view, to put things into perspective.’’
Eventually, when the travelling is done, she will park up close to her daughters in Auckland. There will be no rest home.
‘‘It’s a hell of a lot better for me than to be where the chairs are looking in instead of out.
‘‘I’m going to have amount of fun.’’
❚ Anneke Borren’s final open weekend will be on November 24, 25 and 26 at 12 Kiriwai Rd, Paremata. a great