Tyler Cederman and Hayley Barnett have built a workspace on Boxman Place in Annesbrook where earth quite literally becomes art. As the team behind Potters Clay Nelson, they spend their days surrounded by raw clay, testing benches and well-used tools, developing and refining clay bodies that ceramic artists across Aotearoa rely on. In a new series for Nelson Magazine, Amy Russ steps inside the space to lean more about the people behind I, and the journey from raw earth to finished clay.
How would you describe your space? Our space is a small local manufacturing plant where we use raw materials sourced from around New Zealand into pottery clay bodies. Through a wet processing system, we refine and blend these materials to create clays used by potters, schools and studios across the country.
How do you keep it organised – or do you embrace a bit of chaos? Working with clay means things rarely stay perfectly tidy! We do our best to keep the space organised, but ultimately, we embrace a bit of the factory chaos! It’s all part of the process when you’re making clay every day!
How has the space evolved over time? The plant was originally set up in the 1970s and has been producing clay ever since. Tyler and I took over the business in 2023 and have continued growing the operation. In 2025 we expanded production by acquiring Mac’s Mud clays, and today we’re proud to be the only company producing New Zealand clay bodies.
What inspires you when you’re working here? We love seeing clay move through every stage of the process – from being dug out of the ground to being mixed, screened, pressed, and formed into filter cakes. The most satisfying part is watching it come out of the pugmill, ready to be bagged and sent off. Then we get to see what people create with it, which is really awesome. We hope to encourage Kiwis to use more New Zealand clays – we believe they’re some of the best in the world!
What’s your favourite part of the space? There’s something satisfying about seeing pallets of freshly made clay stacked and ready to head out to potters around the country. What starts here as raw materials will eventually become cups, sculptures, tiles and artworks in studios all over New Zealand and that’s pretty cool.
What’s something people might be surprised to learn about making clay? Many people imagine clay coming straight from the ground ready to use, but in reality, each clay body is a precise and carefully crafted recipe. It begins in its raw, earthy mineral form, then goes through a detailed processing journey in the factory – along with extensive testing and fine-tuning to create the perfect blend.
