Wilma has always created, whether it was from the mud resulting from the seasonal rains on her childhood Caribbean Island of Curacao, the sands on beaches, painting, or fabric.

Ceramics added a layer of depth and permanence to her artwork. In particular, she loves the dimension of the glazes, and how they interact in the firing with clay and textures.

In the early seventies, information in this field was very limited, and in a lot of cases, secretive.  The origins of books available were from overseas and ingredients for glaze recipes had to be adjusted to New Zealand resources.

The then established potters, who are actually the founding fathers of the pottery movement in New Zealand, just experimented on a grand scale, and boldly carved their own success.

Wilma’s drive came from wanting the duality, to create and earn a living.

Her first kiln was electric, she wanted to have some kind of consistency and control over end results. At that time, not to fire in a gas, wood or diesel kiln was slightly frowned upon. In electric firing, having no open flame, or the ability to play with molten glazes by throwing different items into a blazing furnace meant you’re not really doing it. It was a matter of putting more skill and effort into the glazing application to obtain gorgeous results.