Founders Gallery at Caversham Mill 

The Midlands Meander was the very first crafters ramble established in South Africa, and Caversham Mill is where it all began in 1985. The original thinkers behind the idea were David Walters, Ian Glenny, Lindsay Scott, Andy Shuttleworth, Wim de Roubaix and Robin Standing.  At the time, Caversham Mill was the home and studio of the renowned potter David Walters and his wife Michelle.
In honour of these excellent artists, Caversham Mill has set up a small gallery next to the Caversham Mill Restaurant, where guests can view the current work of David Walters.  And continuing a family tradition, David’s daughter – Sarah – has become an excellent potter in her own right.  Her work is also on display in Founders Gallery at Caversham Mill.

Some Background Info:

David Walters:
A BA Fine Arts graduate of Natal University in Pietermaritzburg, David started potting in Tim Morris’s studio in Muldersdrift in 1969.  Studios in the Natal Midlands included Caversham Mill at Lidgetton, where he restored the old mill building, which was subsequently washed away in the floods of 1987.
That tragedy made him decide to move to England with his family, where they established the Particular Pottery in an old Baptist chapel at Kenninghall Norfolk.
But the call of Africa became too strong, and the family returned home in 1997 and settled in Franschhoek in the Cape.
David still favours wheel thrown reduction fired porcelain as a medium, and is also working with “smoke” or “pit” fired burnished porcelain and glass slumped into pit fired pots.

Sarah Walters:
Sarah has a Fine Arts Sculpture degree from the Norwich School of Art and Design in the UK.  After completing her degree in 2001, she returned to South Africa to be with her family.  It was then that she got hooked on ceramics and began to work alongside her dad.
“I specialise in smoke-fired porcelain… the technique has its roots in the very beginnings of ceramic tradition, and yet remains contemporary and relevant.  The process is intuitive immediate and spontaneous.  You can see in the finished product the fingerprint of the smoke and the smooth ivory quality of the burnished porcelain.  The decoration becomes part of the pot itself, referring not only to past traditions but my immediate surroundings…”