Ceramics: a personal journey
I still remember when my interest for pottery began. I was five years old
in sunny Tunisia where I lived with my family in a small town in the north
then called Ferryville. I went to the market with my mum and amid the noise
and bustle and colour of that sunfilled day, there was a potter's stall.
A wide variety of clay wares were on show but I especially remember the great jars for storing water or grain. They seemed huge to me. I caught a glimpse of the potter at work at his wheel, I was fascinated at his ability to magically produce shapes forms and objects. I only found out later that amongst the merchant class I was born into such muddy work was looked down upon.
I never lost whatever it was I had seen on that day in Tunisia. Much later as a
young man who needed to travel I put aside my dreams of pottery and took the more compact and road friendly art of jewelry making. which I survived from
for many years.
I touched clay in the late seventies when I took a pottery making in a course in Denmark. In 1980 I was in Montreal taking an intensive ceramics production
course for one year.
I badly damaged my hip in an accident at this time and was forced to revert to
the less physically demanding jewelry making where I did well as a street artisan
for several years.
I have had different businesses since. I now produce pottery on a part time basis
for the sheer pleasure of it. I get the different colour effects from playing with underglazes and blending different clays together but I never seem to tire of
seeing the effects of marbling.
Everything is covered in a clear transparent glaze which is completely food safe.
Of course it's not the actual production of objects which is important. Our technologically advanced society can produce them by the thousands
with much more perfection and symmetry than I could ever hope to achieve.
There is something else which still brings me back to the wheel. In simple terms
it's being with the circle. Like some whirling dervish the clay goes through different spiritual levels before finally becoming a container that can receive the light of God into its furthest and darkest recesses.
It's a privilege to witness this and also end up with something useful that you can drink your tea with.
