Category Archives: Book launch

Open Studio, Potter’s Lunch, Update – Dec 2024

Hello and warm summer greetings from Bukkenburg in Swellendam as we approach the summer solstice.
We extend Season’s Greetings and our Best Wishes for 2025.

“May you be surrounded by friends and family, and if this is not your lot, may the blessings find you in your solitude“

Leonard Cohen

This quote by Leonard Cohen has often ended some of our seasonal updates, but in 2024, it acquired new meaning.

In our kitchen in Parkview, Johannesburg, early 1980s

Reflecting on the events of the past year, we find ourselves on an unexpected and most difficult journey. I suppose that is what life does to us!

Following last year’s lively and energetic update reflecting on a very eventful and productive year and  with such positive prospects for 2024, our lives took a sudden and heart-breaking turn when Felicity suffered a serious stroke early in the year.

After the stroke, Felicity spent months in hospital and frail care, and  has faced immense challenges, yet I’m glad to say she is stable for now, and comfortable at home, where she’s looked after with great care by Elizabeth Biko, her dedicated daily caregiver.

Felicity and I have been together for 52 years, and have lived in Swellendam for 28 years. Our blog updates, as with all things throughout our life together, have always been a combined effort, and this is the first one where she has not had any direct input – no suggestions as to what to leave in or leave out.

The companionship of 52 years is a blessing few achieve, but for those of us who do, it creates a matchless bond and synergy of spirit

Our family is again together, and in some ways, it has grown as we are surrounded by the love, concern, and practical help of so many. Felicity continues to inspire us with her resilience. James initially reacted quite badly to the dramatic changes we were facing; thankfully he’s settling down now.

We’ve managed to enjoy some uplifting moments with Felicity in the early summer garden, which is looking delightful, and she has even been able to visit the studio again – a gentle, touching time for us both.

Our GP has visited and assured us of his availability whenever we need his support, which comforts us as we adjust to her ongoing needs.

I am so grateful to everyone who has stayed involved, offering your presence, comfort, kind words in person and from afar, and, of course, the delicious meals brought by friends and neighbours.

Thank you also for your continued messages of support.

Our gratitude and warm appreciation for family and community support include special mentions to Felicity’s son Andrew, who took time off from work in Johannesburg to be here, my brother John and sister Marian from the UK who both made the journey, and cousin Tony, a medical specialist who has kept a close watch from Cape Town and made several trips to be with us.

And a special thank you to Penny Thome and Carmen Stuart from Swellendam, whose care and encouragement has been unwavering all through this unbelievable ordeal, and continues. Your kindness is precious.

This is Felicity’s caregiver, Elizabeth Biko, giving James his breakfast.

Carmen – – – – Penny

In the Studio

In the studio, life is slowly beginning to regain some momentum. With the invaluable help of Saskia van Leeuwen, I have completed long overdue glaze firings in our big oil kiln, and the results are most encouraging, considering that this is the first time in all these years that Felicity and I have not been in the studio together for the glazing and decorating cycle, and also we were not at the kiln together during the firings.

This work will be on display in our gallery throughout the holiday season and beyond.

In spite of the mad scramble to re-energize the studio in the early spring, after the catastrophic events earlier in the year and the desperately grim and bleak winter months, things have more or less come together for now.

The newly tested glazes that showed such promise at the end of last year and which we were so excited about have been used on some of the pots in these recent firings and those pots are now in the gallery. (Pictures of two of the new glazes were on last December’s news update, others in the new updates on the website – see below)

Several delayed commissions have been completed with this spring push, and now I am able to get on with the remaining ordered and commissioned work and hopefully extend into some more adventurous work in the New Year as I begin to explore all sorts of possibilities with the new glazes.

Saskia at the wheel with James watching – and – Saskia helping to load the big kiln

“These pots are fragile and so easily broken, they are only made of a little clay on which fortune has precariously bestowed some consistency; the same could be said of mankind”

José Saramago

Here are a few images of our new work:

There are several albums of pictures showing the new work on these refreshed pages of our website.
Please click on the highlighted text to get to those pages:

Current Work  – 
Recently fired pots – 3 galleries of pictures

Pots for Sale  – 
4 galleries of pictures of pots for sale.
These are the pots on view in our gallery at Bukkenburg and for sale from this page.
I will include prices and details quite soon – in the meantime if any of these pots interest you, please send me the three digit number of the piece by WhatsApp or e-mail and I’ll send you all the information.

We can accept EFT and card payments.
Reliable shipping to almost any destination can be arranged.

Potter’s Lunch & Open Studio – 21 December

Preparations are ongoing for our annual summer ‘Potter’s Lunch and Open Studio’ on Saturday, 21 December— always one of the highlights of the year.
We will be limiting the number of people for lunch this year.

A warm invitation to join us on the 21st, and if you’d like to join us for our well-known buffet, please book your place:
Tel:                 082 342 5453
E-mail:            david@pottery.co.za

The menu and costs will be available soon.

Here are some pictures from earlier events:

Exhibitions

Very early in the year, sometime before Felicity’s stroke, we decided that we should be making more of an effort to have our work seen further afield again and so agreed that we would take part in group exhibitions should the opportunity arise.

Two exhibition opportunities arose early in the year:

  • ‘The Persistence of Memory’, The Winter Ceramics Exhibition – Spier Arts Trust in Stellenbosch, from June to September
  • Inaugural SA Clay Awards 2024 Exhibition at Rust-en-Vrede Gallery & Clay Museum in Cape Town, in November

We sent in pictures of our work for possible selection and were accepted by both!

It has been so long since we took part in any of these joint or group exhibitions and we are delighted to have been represented in both – more especially at having one of our pieces selected for the Inaugural SA Clay Awards.

There were more than 500 entries for the SA Clay Awards from which 45 pieces were selected for the exhibition.

This is the piece of ours that was accepted.

SA Clay Awards  2024  press release: https://rust-en-vrede.com/clayawards/

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Unpacking a pair of big stoneware jars at Spier Arts Trust which had been accepted for the Spier Winter Ceramics Exhibition.

We look forward to submitting work again should the opportunity arise.

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Swellendam – On The Way To Everywhere

Swellendam – at the foot of the Langeberg Mountains


With all that the town has to offer visitors, it is sad that in recent years, Swellendam has operated without an organized tourism body and no plan or strategy in operation.

We acknowledge and value the tireless work of individuals striving to maintain the visibility and prominence of the town and its surrounding region.

Despite the absence of a coordinated effort, these dedicated individuals contribute significantly to sustaining the profile of Swellendam, ensuring it remains a notable destination.

Their hard work plays a vital role in helping to promote the town and enhancing its appeal for visitors.

Also of great concern is the extent of political infighting and tension in the Municipal Council – the fallout from this certainly cannot be good for the town’s citizens, and the town’s profile as a developing tourist destination.

It has recently been announced that Swellendam Municipality has achieved another clean audit!
This is really great news as so many small and larger municipalities in this country are in deep financial trouble

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Our guest cottage at Bukkenburg

ACCOMMODATION AT THE STUDIO

Our self-catering guest cottage in the garden, shown in the picture above is available for an overnight stay or longer.
Please contact us for availability and rates.

Details and pictures on the ‘Accommodation Page’ Click Here

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Delighted that the pair Spotted Eagle Owls returned again to their nesting tree near to us this year and fledged these two babies.

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Looking ahead

Our current situation and Felicity’s’ condition determine a particular outlook for the road ahead, and we will approach the New Year very much on a day by day basis.

Even in these trying times we have so much to be grateful for.

I am more than grateful that Felicity is home and comfortable with a really fine caregiver in Elizabeth Biko, and James has recovered from a very difficult period earlier in the year when Felicity first took ill.

Equally so, I am grateful for the support of a network of amazing local people.

A family who, although so far away, are always there for a call, and who will, I am sure again drop everything to be here with us should the situation require it.

Thankful too that our gallery now has a lively and diverse display of fresh, new work on view and for sale, and that we have some meaningful commissioned work to complete as the New Year begins.

The article below was written by Chief Kagisho Molema and posted recently on swellendam.com and SwellenGram:

https://swellendam.com/the-sage-at-the-potters-house/


Malachite Sunbird – male

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Thank you so much for your ongoing interest and support, and for taking the time to read through this update.
We’re looking forward to seeing some of you here during the summer months and beyond

The studio and gallery are open and working daily
Visitors are always welcome

With our warm wishes for the festive season and 2025

David & Felicity
At Bukkenburg in Swellendam
December 2024
Moblie / WhatsApp: +27 82 342 5453
E-Mail: david@pottery.co.za

We hope that you will visit and support our various Social Media pages:
Facebook Studio Page
Facebook – Bukkenburg Pottery
Facebook Accommodation Page
Facebook – David
Instagram


Ken Beittel

Autumn 2023 at Bukkenburg

Hello and warm greetings from Bukkenburg in Swellendam as we approach the Autumn Equinox.

From the low-water crossing over the Breede River at Drew, about 25 km west of Swellendam – click to enlarge.

It has been a rather busy few months here, and we have much to share in this newsletter/blog post. Here’s hoping that you enjoy the contents.
All the pictures should enlarge with a click.

Saturday 18 March

A different sort of event this month as David and his brother John will be in conversation at Bokmakiri Books in Swellendam talking about John’s memoir
‘When They Came For Me : The Hidden Diary Of An Apartheid Prisoner’.

An earlier event to launch the book here, without John, had to be postponed due to increased Covid-19 restrictions in force at the time.

John will be in South Africa during March, taking part in the Jewish Literary Festival in Cape Town on Human Rights Day, March 21, and later for engagements in Johannesburg.

We are delighted that he will finally be here and look forward to a meaningful event in Swellendam with him, and we are most grateful to Eduan Swanepoel from Bokmakiri Books for hosting the event.

The event is open to the public and we hope to see some of you there.

The event is open to the public and all are welcome.

The Venue
Please click for: Bokmakiri Books
Shop 7
Carlton Mall
Voortrek Street
Swellendam
Tel: 083 651 5830


Context

John Schlapobersky, a student in South Africa, was arrested in 1969 for opposing apartheid, tortured through sleep deprivation and eventually deported. In solitary confinement he wrote secretly about the struggle for survival. This exquisitely written memoir is based on two hidden diaries – one in his Bible and the other on toilet paper. He reflects on the singing of the condemned prisoners and the poetry, songs and texts that saw him through his ordeal. The sense of hope through which he transformed his life guides his continuing work as a psychotherapist in the rehabilitation of others. Apartheid and its resistance come to life in this vital historical document, of its time and for our own.

Author
John is a leading psychotherapist and author based in London.
In 1985 he was a Founding Trustee of  ‘Freedom from Torture’, a human rights charity. 

His publications include ‘From The Couch To The Circle: Group-Analytic Psychotherapy In Practice’ (Routledge 2016), winner of the American Group Psychotherapy Association’s Alonso Award in 2017, now in translation to other language editions.

Endorsements:

‘An exquisitely written memoir about human endurance, survival, repair and transcendence.’ 
Justice Albie Sachs

‘An intriguing story of endurance and survival. A reminder of times, and the people who resisted them, that should never be forgotten.’ 
Gillian Slovo

‘One of the most vivid, intimate and sustained accounts yet, of the brutality that apartheid’s torturers unleashed – a remarkable book about our inhumanity and the resilience of the human spirit.’ 
Jonathan Jansen, Professor, University of Stellenbosch

‘The tale of an ordinary young man swept one day from his life into hell, testimony to the wickedness a political system let loose in its agents and, above all, an intimate account of how a man became a healer.’ 
Jonny Steinberg, Professor, African Studies Centre, University of Oxford

John has made surviving into…an act of creative protest (and) a means to bear witness for the many who did not survive.’ 
Jack Saul, Director, International Trauma Studies Program, New York.

Please click this link for – An article in The South African Jewish Report

Please click this link for – Jewish Literary Festival

Please click this link to reach the South African publisher of the book: Jonathan Ball
Please click this link for the UK publisher of the book: Berghahn Books

Norwich – 2013

Members of the extended family, UK, South Africa and USA on Zoom having received their copies of the book.

Life and work at Bukkenburg in the first months of 2023.

Such a busy time here lately!
We are pleased to report that we have at last found a solution – for our studio – to the nightmarish consequence of collapsing electricity supply that is plaguing the country.

It has involved buying a new motor for the fan and installing a Variable Speed Drive to convert our single phase backup electricity supply to the studio, to 3-phase in order to power the motor and be able to fire the kiln.

Sophisticated electrics requiring the services of a really competent electrician to make it all work together. Thankfully Swellendam is blessed with such skills!

And so thankful to have Andrew helping with the whole project.

We have fired the big kiln successfully with this new system and another glaze firing is imminent.

We are sure that it won’t be too long before things finally settle down a bit.

Family visit

Marian and Peter were here from the UK for a few days recently with their daughter Jane and her partner Jonathan. A short but wonderful visit!

Swellendam – On The Way To Everywhere

For the past few years Swellendam has been without an organised, co-ordinated tourism plan or strategy, and we appreciate what is being done by several hard working individuals in their efforts to keep the profile of the town and region visible and prominent.

The cover of the new ‘Swellendam Summer Guide – 2023’
Co-ordinated and financed by the Swellendam Municipality.
So good to have something for visitors to take away with them as they explore the town and region. We’re looking forward to the benefits from a wide distribution campaign.

Our self-catering guest cottage in the garden, shown above, is available for an overnight stay or longer.
Details and pictures on the ‘Accommodation Page’ Click Here

Summertime lunch with Andrew and James – Christina’s Bistro at van Loveren Family Vineyards, Robertson Western Cape.

The studio and gallery are open and working daily, and visitors are always welcome.
Please call ahead if travelling from afar, just to be sure that we will be here and available.

“Dedicate years to honing your craft, whatever that may be.
Creativity emerges through repetition. And whistling”

Hyme Rabinowitz

Spotted eagle owlets

With our very best wishes

David and Felicity
Bukkenburg – March 2023


Mobile & WhatsApp: +27 (0) 82 342 5453
E-mail: david@pottery.co.za

Please visit our Social Media pages:
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Facebook Accommodation Page
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Chameleons are back in the garden in their numbers this year.