MEMBERS of the Port Stephens Community Arts Centre have been cooking up a storm.

The storm that went through Port Stephens in March this year caused extensive damage to the kitchen at Port Stephens Community Arts Centre.

The members of the centre have recently revamped the kitchen with new flooring, dishwasher, air conditioner and painting.

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Meryl Miller of the Port Stephens Community Arts Centre told News Of The Area, “Madeleine Quinlan who runs a team of café volunteers is delighted with the improvements to the kitchen.

“The Garden Café is open on Saturday’s from 10am – 2:20pm serving a menu of beverages, homemade cakes, scones and savoury muffins and light lunches.”

The Garden Café is just one way that the Arts Centre raises funds to maintain the ongoing costs of the centre which caters to over 300 members.

If you visit the centre now the feature potter is Greg Howes, a local potter retired recently to Port Stephens.

Greg is originally from New Zealand and has spent the majority of his adult life in Sydney where he began potting back in the 1990’s.

He has studied ceramics at TAFE campuses in Hornsby and Gymea, attending classes at the Willoughby Arts Centre and recently here at the Community Arts Centre.

Greg has a free form style, shying away from the repetitive mass-produced pots available in department stores.

He enjoys experimenting with textures and forms, mixing glazes and seeing the colours they produce (sometimes unexpected) after their transformation in the firing process.

His pots are all made using stoneware clay bodies high fired to 1280°C in both electric and gas kilns.

These pieces are created using a variety of methods, including wheel thrown, hand built and press-moulds, producing both functional and decorative pieces.

His glazes are usually applied by spray, but in some cases Greg adds other colour elements by way of mono printing coloured slip, printing from wood blocks (carved by Greg himself) and the application of coloured stains produced from clay he finds locally.

By Marian SAMPSON