Denise Meyrick (also known as Denise Welsford) was born in the small Canterbury town of Kirwee in 1931 and began potting in Governors Bay in 1965. Her training included study with eminent potters Yvonne Rust and Michael Trumic, and she began teaching from her home in Totara Street, Christchurch in 1968. Favouring domestic stoneware, Meyrick became a full-time potter in 1972. She exhibited regularly with the New Zealand Society of Potters, Canterbury Society of Arts and the New Zealand Academy of Fine Arts, and was president of the Canterbury Potters’ Association for three years from 1974. In 1975, she and a core group of local potters – her partner Rex Valentine, Michael Trumic, Margaret Ryley and Frederika Ernsten – established Studio 393 in a large upstairs former bakery at 393 Montreal Street. Later joined by Lawrence Ewing, they built up a lively, nationally significant hub for the discussion and exhibiting of pottery.