Hi, my name is Gillian Weavers.
Mudbird Ceramics was officially established in October 2010, although I started creating with clay late 2008.
Being born into a creative family, I didn't have to stray far to get involved in art & crafts. After running my own professional Photography business for 15 years, I found my passion for clay after my 2nd child turned 2. I desired a creative outlet I could do from home and work around my (now) 3 children as I was no longer able to run my Photography business.
I work out of a small studio on our 1/4 acre section, I have 2 small kilns, one made it through the earthquakes, but it still does the job! It's just me at this stage, so I make everything you see here by hand, although I would love to bring more creative hands into the studio in the future.
Mudbird Ceramic designs are perfect as an original gift. Each piece is hand cut from NZ Porcelain clay, then stamped/impressed using a mixture of new & antique textures, stamps, woodblocks & found objects. Many of the textures are from my personal collection of antique & vintage pieces. A lot of hard work and time goes into each and every piece.
I recycle all my clay, so none goes into the waste - keeping it Green.
Last year after the earthquakes in Christchurch, and literally being surrounded by silt in my Woolston property 3 times - I decided to do something positive and started to plan and design a small range of ceramic designs made from white clay and silt. The affect was surprising when the grey silt fired in the kiln and turned an earthy red. But there is more to this story - I decided that if I was going to make something out of the silt, I might as well do something good for the city. All of the pieces in my Emerge range will have 30% of the proceeds donated to either the Red Cross Earthquake appeal, The Christchurch Earthquake appeal or Adopt a Christchurch Family appeal. I'd like to let the customer choose which is closest to their heart. To date together with your support I have raised $3500 towards these 3 charities.
I'm constantly creating new designs and have many new ideas in the pipeline.
Keep on coming back to see them here or come and visit me on my Facebook page. www.facebook.com/mudbirdnz
x Gill
