Studio Opua  -  Fine Arts and Crafts

My artistic journey began from as early as I can remember, my Father, Peter Nisbet worked in NZ Broadcasting and then managed the NZ Symphony Orchestra. There was always music, pottery, dinners with conductors and artists and going to concerts.

I began practising Ceramics in 1993. Prior to this I had spent some years organising garage band concerts, public entertainment, street theatre and was a Stage Manager for a while.

Ceramics for me is a natural follow on from years of collecting that started with my Grandmothers collection and grew as my Mother, Jo Nisbet restored and traded Antiques.

I felt it important to create some useful objects that would one day be collected.

I have been fascinated by Art, how it moves over time, what is popular in it’s time, what lasts.

Moving into ceramics when the market was being reduced by cheap imports I became concerned about the loss of skills and traditions in a culture.

I discovered sympathy with The Arts and Crafts Movement when the boom of Industrial Production caused Artists to focus on designing Objects that would serve functional purpose and add beauty into everyday life.

This was the beginning of the Design Movement that includes The Bauhaus, Wiener Werkstaette, The Glasgow School, Art Deco, and Art Nouveau and has influenced Architecture and Industrial Production since.

Today we are challenged by the centralisation of Industrial Manufacture due to the low cost of labour in developing nations.

The result is the same type of product in the same type of shops throughout the world.

I believe unless we create a focus and demand for locally manufactured goods and stimulate an economy that supports a wide range of professional skills, there is a loss in the strength and culture of a nation.

With the economy and ease of international trading it is important that a central Library of Artists and Craftspeople be established to maintain the value of precious works and keep a broad range of skill potential in our cultures.

My work since 1993 has been a journey of discovery and challenge to find a genuine solution to keeping the wealth of our traditions and cultures.

Apart from Ceramics, I play with Sculpture, Painting and am now working in my third Gallery.