Barry Brickell

Ian Barry Brickell OBE (26 October 1935 – 23 January 2016) was a New Zealand potter, writer, conservationist and founder of Driving Creek Railway.

He enrolled in a Bachelor of Science Degree at Auckland University College in 1954, completing his studies under the Post Primary Teacher's Bursary Scheme.

[3] In 1974, he bought the adjacent 24-hectare (60-acre) property and created Driving Creek Railway and Potteries in the Coromandel, with workshops and kilns, where he worked with other potters.

[5] Much of the land for the track was cleared initially by hand with bulldozers later making it safe, and the lines were purchased from a local closed coal mine.

[8] In 2008 Brickell paid tribute to the recently deceased poet Hone Tuwhare, noting that his words [reminded him]... "of an albatross with wings outstretched and soaring.

Most of the kilns at Driving Creek Railway were designed and built by Brickell using bricks made on-site from clay sourced on the same property.

According to Christine Leov-Lealand's biography, Brickell built his first brick kiln at age seven under the family home in Devonport, which was almost set alight.

[11] He built a round coal-fired kiln for potter Yvonne Rust in Greymouth in 1968, and in 1975, constructed another for artist Ralph Hotere in Port Chalmers,[12] fired from pine bark recycled from a nearby wharf.

Exhibition notes describe his most well known form, the Spiromorphs as "large-scale spiral creations built from coiled clay...[which]...twist and unfold in expansive curves and visceral ridges, drawing on the relentless energy of nature.

A reviewer said the pieces reflect "playful humour mixed with a serious concern for sculptural form...[and]...are made with a sophistication and confidence which requires no adornment".

[22] In 1974 Brickell was awarded a QEII Arts Council Grant to build New Zealand's first wood-fired stoneware pottery kiln, which he made with help from students, using bricks from a demolished hotel in the nearby town of Coromandel.