In a world that gives us constant input, it is nice to shift the focus to output. This winter, Lume has invited artists to share their craft with our community through a series of workshops. No need to be a professional artist — just a longing for being creative.
We recently visited Rachel Bakker in her little studio in Surfdale, where she spends hours on her ceramics. She sees it as a form of meditative practice. With a background from the Woodfired Pottery School and the Dunedin School of Art, her work is organic and intuitive, capturing the way light and shadow dance across surfaces. In the slow craft of making, she believes our hands are the visible extension of our invisible will.
"Cultural change begins when different stories are told and believed. Stories rooted in place, care and relationship slow us down and invite different ways of living."
Rachel hosted a two-part workshop in pottery and candle making — The Art of Light: Ceramic & Beeswax Candle Workshop Series — an immersive series inviting participants to slow down and rediscover the power of creating functional art. Over two sessions, participants hand-built a ceramic candle holder and dipped their own traditional beeswax candles — a ritual of reconnection to our creative power.
