Matariki has always been a very special event for us here at Creative & Brave.
It is an important time for personal reflection, for taking that little bit of time that you need for yourself and for your family. A time to just be with those you love and remember those who have passed.
It is also a time to prepare for the onset of winter and ensure you and those in your community are all stocked up for the colder months. Traditionally this is a time of harvest, of gifting food, and planning or preparing the ground for the new year's crops.
The night sets in pretty quickly now so there will be many opportunities to head out into the darkness and stare up at the Matariki cluster as she fires up the night sky. The seven sisters of Matariki, the seven stars are a constant recurring event on our yearly cycle. They were there for the first star gazers to notice and they are here for us still.
We are celebrating Matariki this year with a very special collection of hand made ceramics by Adele and Richie at Borrowed Earth. They have been a part of our Creative & Brave whanau for many years and have delighted us with every collection of their exquisitely hand made ceramics. Their themes are often deep in nature but artfully translated into engaging and often enchanting creations.
Adele and Richie have bravely surmounted a life changing event which kept them from their studio, artistic practice and livelihood for over a year. Seeing our shelves and walls empty of their works was a solemn reminder of the challenges they were facing.
But just like Matariki re-appearing and captivating us with her gems, Adele and Rich have come back to us with an incredible collection of ceramics for Matariki 2021.
Adele and Richie have spent the past three months slowly adjusting back into the flow of the studio. The experience for them has been cathartic and incredibly rewarding. Adele's initial trepidation was swiftly overcome as her muscle memory took over and she found herself deftly engraving intricate Matariki motifs into the clay. Aue! Listening to her relay these victories to us was very moving. She's back!
As you can tell this Matariki release has many dimensions of meaning for us. And we are excited to share this with you.
Visiting Adele and Rich at their peaceful Whangaparoa studio home was like entering a retreat. Their renovated bach is cosily nestled in lush native bush and looks out across the peninsula. A horde of fat Tui birds visit them daily having flown from the bird sanctuary island Tiritirimatangi to feed on Adele and Richie's special bottles of nectar. Like Cicada song the whole space rings with the multidimensional song of the Tui.
There was a momentous feeling as we followed Adele up the winding path to the back yard studio. Until recently their treasured studio had been sitting empty, no warm kilns, no coffee aroma or the usual sight of Adele and Rich at work with the clay. We knew that the creation of our Matariki collection would act like a re christening of the studio space and it was a beautiful thing to see the light filled space full of life and colour.
The precious Matariki pieces were laid out on the studio tables, the kilns were being loaded with new goodies and the shelves were already beginning to look busy with projects.
Seeing the studio full of warmth and Adele and Rich fizzing with excitement for future projects was balm for the soul! Thanks to all of our followers and lovers of Borrowed Earth for patiently awaiting new stock. And thank you for your continued enthusiasm for each Borrowed Earth release. The sight of you waiting at the door before opening on a Matariki launch date or snapping up your favorite one-off pieces at our web launches fills us with joy and happiness that you too see how special these pieces are.
Words and images by Tui Miller.