Ceramics in Guyana!

What an amazing day!

Over 35 years ago I had the amazing opportunity to study pottery in Lusaka, Zambia with Bente Lorenz.  The potter's wheels where manual and powered by a stationary bicycle, the faster you pedaled, the faster the wheel turned. It was an experience that has stayed with me my whole life.  I often think about Bente and her studio and all of the folks who I so enjoyed and learned so much from.  I have frequently wondered how I could duplicate the experience for others.

My friend Tracy is President of the Craft Association of Guyana.  Tracy knows that I am keen on getting a potter's wheel into Karanambu!  So today, she took me up to the East Bank to meet some of the members of her association!  What an experience! They dig their own clay, fire it in several different ways.  Some people do use a Kiln, others fire the clay naturally in a fire pit. We make our own clay bricks at Karanambu, so the possibilities are endless!

One artist has been working on one piece for years!  It is a castle made up of tiny individual clay brick!  You cannot even imagine what has gone into this over the years!

THIS IS THE TOP PIECE OF THE CASTLE

THIS IS THE MIDDLE OF THE CASTLE

THE WINDOWS ARE MADE OF WOOD and OPEN & CLOSE

THIS IS THE MOAT and base of the Castle

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO LIVE IN THE CASTLE

This manual wheel, although made up of bicycle parts, is very different than the one I was familiar with. We had a great conversation about how to maintain your creativity in a environment where there is so much need.  It is quite amazing that from so little, comes so much.

USING THE MANUAL POTTER'S WHEEL

Bicycle parts used to make it spin

It was a fantastic day!  New friends, fantastic artists and all kinds of possibilities for art at Karanambu!!