Paul Walshe

Born in New Zealand, Walshe attended school on the West Coast of the South Island Te Waipounamu before working in the bush and as a gold miner, while taking a correspondence course in art. He trained as an apprentice forester, and traveled to Britain as part of the 11th Forestry Company before joining the Royal New Zealand Air Force as a Lancaster bomber pilot. He was shot down off the coast of Denmark during his 21st mission, and became a prisoner of war during the final year of the war.

Returning to art after this experience, he travelled to the United Kingdom and studied bronze casting in Hampstead (UK). Later he lived in east Africa for eight years and it is here that he was attracted to pottery. After Africa, he moved to the Channel Islands but finally returned to New Zealand in 1968 and worked as a potter in Tauranga and later Nelson, where he continued potting and making art while also teaching at Nelson Polytechnic.

His noted works include a bust of Kate Sheppard, The man with the donkey at the Pukeahu National War Memorial, and a statue of Lord Nelson located in the Nelson City Council Chambers.

He died in 2007, survived by his wife Margery, daughter Sarah Russell and two daughters from his first marriage, Catherine and Carol.

See also:

• 'Paul Walshe: Nelson artist leaves legacy of sculpture', Nelson Mail, Wednesday, October 3, 2007, p18.