The Devonport Flagstaff Page 3
April 17 2015
Kitchen craft takes poppy making to new level
My kitchen rules… Ruth Bramble Ruth Bramble’s Belmont kitchen has doubled as her art studio for the last four years. This month she has been making dozens of ceramic poppies that were commissioned for Anzac Day celebrations. Bramble says husband Gary is the cook in the family. But Ruth is busy in the kitchen as well. Silver spoons, kitchen knives, cookie cutters and pastry brushes help her shape ceramic art. Her poppy moulds are cereal bowls. “I make almost everything with kitchen utensils. Ships, fish, chicken, hearts, fridge magnets and Christmas decorations,” she says. Bramble also has a pottery wheel in the basement, where she makes mugs and bowls. She doesn’t have a kiln yet though, and fires her creations in local potter Jengis Poor’s kiln on Clarence St.
Bramble says she was thrilled to be asked to make the poppies for the St Heliers Bay Village Association Anzac Day celebration. Bramble, who trained as a nurse 20 years ago and works as a nurse in Newmarket four days a week, also has a couple of arts degrees. “I did a foundation year at Carmarthen College of Arts in South Wales straight after school and graduated with a degree in fashion and textiles from Nottingham Trent University. But when the Brambles moved to the Scottish countryside, there weren’t a lot of jobs in fashion design on offer and Bramble retrained as a nurse. In 2003, Bramble signed up for a ceramics summer school course and got a Foundation Degree in Contemporary Ceramic Practice at Newcastle College in 2009.
Chemical weed-spraying proposed to save $50,000 Chemical weed-spraying in Devonport could save Auckland Council $50,000 a year. Auckland Council parks department is proposing to introduce chemical edge-spraying. Ironically the council proposal comes hot on the heels of Devonport-Takapuna Local Board’s powerful endorsement of North Shore City Council’s chemical-free weed control. Board member Alison Roe said she wanted to see council’s evidence that chemicals are
cheaper than the current hot-water treatment. Council Parks Team Leader Parks Operations Grant Muir said the board could consider charging for the use of sports fields and setting up user charges for commercial events held on local parks this year. Muir said more proposed cuts were on the horizon for the following year, including reduced mowing of parks and the removal of unused playground equipment and bins as well as frequently vandalised toilets.
Her family’s move to New Zealand four years ago put Bramble’s art practice back on the kitchen table. She has taught ceramics at the Mairangi Arts Centre and the Corban Estate Art Centre and her poppies are for sale at the Moko Art Space in Hot Water Beach. “I absolutely love poppies, so when the St Heliers Bay people called me I was thrilled. Now I am thinking about what to do next and Gary says it could be sunflowers,” she says. For more info about Ruth Bramble, see www.ruthbrambleceramics.com