Pottery visit 2010


POTTERING ABOUT, January 2010

Swish.... and we were there! In an hour we had left behind the man-made pollution of Makati to the wonderful tranquil escape of Lanelle's pottery experience in Antipollo, Rizal. We admired the paradise oasis full of beautiful plants and the biggest, most colourful carp most of us had ever seen. There were 9 of us in total visiting today. Lanelle was there to greet us and proceeded to give us a guided tour through the pottery works. We delivered a bucket of lahar, which is the signature component of the Mount Pinatubo Ash Glaze. We were given a clear idea of the process in stages from lahar to ash to glaze to saleable goods. I'm sure that most people, including myself, had no idea that the magic happens after 17 hours in the main hot kiln. This kiln is lined with the same insulation used for lining space shuttles. The temperature reaches a heat of approximately 1,300 degrees centigrade and then the final important stage is to ensure it cools down slowly so that the glazed products don't explode. This takes at least 12 hours. We also looked at different glaze colours and found out that all is not what you see because what looks like will be red actually turns blue! So, they have to be really careful which barrell they dunk the pottery items into if specific colurs are part of the design. There is a shop there offering a small selection of 1st class products priced for your convenience or you can have a look in the 'seconds' section which is charged by weight. One-offs can be found here. Sometimes items with flaws have more character and uniqueness I feel. So, you can find something special here too. Lunch was full of mouthwatering surprises using fresh products from the garden kitchen, which added to the splendour and colour of our day. Many thanks to all playing their special part to this experience and a very happy day outing! Written by Rebecca Wallum Manila, 26 January 2010