G is for Golden Bridge Pottery

This time the golden gate bridge is not that of SFO but home of pottery in Pondicherry, India. This is second post I am doing about pottery in this region. This was started by Deborah Smith and Ray Meeker founded this pottery school in 1971 at Sir Aurbindo Ashram. Since then they have stayed there and teach pottery making techniques. For more information on their school please contact them here

 

I am guessing she is Deborah.

Pottery as Passion

My search for pottery school in India is endless. I want to track down all the pottery schools in India and make a repository of those. I know making a calendar of those activities is difficult, but a guide by the city would be the ultimate product. Shalan Dere is the owner of pottery studio in Mahim, Mumbai. Pottery started as a past time for this bajaj MBA graduate and has grown into full blown pottery. She has some amazing collection which you can see at her website here

Some of her work

The arttist her self

She takes weekend pottery workshops. Anyone interested please get in touch with her with the contact details mentioned on the website.

A is for Andretta Pottery (HP)

I am so glad I am discovering all the movements in Indian pottery. One such took place in picturesque place of Andretta, nestled in the Kangra valley of Himachal Pradesh. Studio pottery may be very well known today, but 50yrs ago in India, it was unheard of. To make studio art popular, credit goes to Gurcharan Singh. Andretta sounds so Italian. To know all history of the place please read here. His son runs the pottery school now. I will post photos as soon as I find some. 

M is for Manipur - Longpi Pottery

Manipur is known for Longpi pottery or Longpi Ham as it is generally known. It also called royal pottery since it was used by royal family to cook special meals like during weddings or festivals. It is not made like a traditional pottery thrown on wheel. Essentially its not an earthen pottery but stone pottery. Its from a rock called "Serpentinite". This rock is powdered and mixed with other materials to make clay body. The shapes are made by hand and fired at 900 degree centigrade. It is then sanded and made smooth with another stone. It is further polished with leaves called Chiron Na and thats what gives it luster and another layer of smoothness. It is later embellished with woven with bamboo. Sharing some of the photos. 

It looks like wood, i love the imperfections and love the simplicity

aren't the handles gorgeous

pen/pencil holders

tea-pot with bamboo handle

fruit bowl woven around with bamboo

beer and bamboo

more cups, how  I long I was somewhere else ~~sigh~~

J is Jaipur Blue Pottery

I am starting a series about pottery in India, called A to Z of pottery representing the states of India.
I am starting with Blue pottery. I will post about the making of blue pottery.
Blue Pottery is Turko-Persian in origin, but today is widely known as one of the distinctive crafts of Jaipur. The blue pottery art prospered due to royal patronage in 17th century and was thriving well into 19th century.

Blue Pottery took an interesting route in finding its home in Jaipur. Ram Singh II attended a kite flying session and watched as his kite masters were engaged in battle with two brothers from Achnera (near Agra). When the ruler saw that the brothers managed to bring down the royal kites almost every time, he was intrigued. He asked the brothers their secret. They told him that they were potters by profession and had coated their strings with the same blue green glass that they used for their pots. Sawai Ram Singh II was impressed so he invited the brothers to stay in Jaipur and teach this unique form of glazed pottery at his new art school.

Blue pottery is now seeing revival after being on the verge of extinction. Below are some photos of the amazing colors.

a potter coloring the pots before they are glazed in the kiln

vases and coffee mugs. I love the intricate design of blue and white

this is where I started my search, a unique kitchen backsplash,

thats when I discovered the blue tiles

traditionally made in blue color, due to abundance of indigo..

now you notice other bright colors

These cost you a fortune. You can get some pieces in 'World Market'

In search of Indian Pottery

After enrolling myself in the pottery class, I started searching for similar outlets in India and where could I possibly continue this interest. I found a school in Puducherry, TN. They some of the most wonderful creations of functional pottery that I have seen. Here are some pieces from the Mandala Pottery, which you can also check out on the website.

I made a similar bowl, this is a reminder I need to post about my bowls

Loved the inter-laced bowls

I simply love bowls

one day.. this would be in my collection

miniature vases

serving platter

This is my fav set of tea cups

someday my perfection would reflect the piece above

You get these in terrra-cotta colors, w/o the glaze which looks simply chic

How do you even get a shape like this... !!

Pondicherry is on my must go list!

this is what I was talking abt, terra cotta wind chimes.

Tea Cups 101

Recently the swiss arts council held an exhibition portraying the 'tea cup' traditions around the world. And guess what it featured our very own 'kulhad'. Lot of Indian artists participated in the exhibition. All the tea cups featured in this exhibition were handle-less. Aah! I adding handles as most painful task in pottery, I think that is why I am more fascinated with bowls rather than cups. Something to improve on. Check out some of the pictures from the exhibition. A link to the exhibition can be found here.

The Indian potter demonstrating the "throwing off the hump" technique

Tracy Porter

Another of my inspiration is Tracy Porter's amazing tabletop collection. She makes use of lovely vibrant colors red and green and juxtaposing those to white. I love her artesian road collection. You can find more of her treasures here. I love the way she uses animals in her platters, teapots and most importantly salt and pepper shaker. Enjoy the while it lasts. You can catch her entire collection here


A little history about the fascinating dinnerware -

Tracy Porter grew up on Artesian Road in the countryside of Wisconsin. Her parents were collectors of sorts, all kinds of interesting things and quite a menagerie of animals to boot ... including peacocks. (It's all coming together for you now isn't it?) In their house there was this cool little room that was dubbed "The Chinese Room." Tracy used to sit in there for hours reading and listening to Billie Holiday and Etta James.

All of these wonderful memories came together in this pattern ... A hand-painted blend of European and Oriental motifs in bold and vibrant colors. Sculpted bamboo trim and sculptural peacocks bring out the exotic nature of this gorgeous and elegant ceramic pattern. The extensive collection includes dinnerware, accessories and bakeware. 

From the Artesian Road Collection, i love the handle on the lidded bowl

Platter, love the bamboo detailing

Love the chip and dip set, I want one!!!

Simply adore this one!! I love her use of peacocks

The animals and the salt and pepper

doggy dog salt and pepper

My most fav Salt and Pepper

Bowls are by far my most fav in any given collection. Look at the colors on this bowl.

This is a teapot over a cup, 3D butterfiles.. are uber cool

Wish bowls.. truly awesome

another one of her magic

Soaps

Although this blog is about pottery and everything earthen, I had to mention this awesome soaps sold in downtown Savannah, GA. Robin Lynne of Savannah Soap Kitchen, the creator of these soaps, started this in mid 2008 and looks really promising. She will soon release her kit about making soap at home. I am looking forward to that. Here are some of the pics of her soaps. You can catch more of that on her flicker stream

Would love to try this one

What a cool impression

Reminds me of the tutti-fruiti bread

I don't care what's inside, this is my favorite packaging

Some more soaps

reminds me of jigsaw puzzle

Why would anyone use these soaps