Studio AYRA
Sanjay Gupta and Ayushi Rastogi are a dynamic potter team who make pit fired burnished vessels and artwork. We met very early into our Indian journey but because our plans were already set for South India we left, but vowed to be back to work alongside them. Upon our return to Dehra-Dun we quickly rekindled … Read more
A ‘Happy Potter’ in Ahmedabad
We connected with Neelma of Happy Potter after she invited us to visit her studio. Since we were taking a train from Bombay to Delhi, Ahmedabad fell conveniently on the way. We were looking forward to meeting a city studio potter after all our months spent at traditional potteries. The Happy Potter Studio is a sweet … Read more
Bombay’s Sir JJ School of Art
We took an overnight train to Bombay (from Hyderabad) and arrived in the early morning hours. A cup of tea and a hot shower later we collapsed into bed for a late morning snooze. Bombay was primarily a personal detour but we decided to visit the Sir JJ School of Art while we were here. … Read more
The Pottery Museum and Artisans of Biyagama
We hopped on a local bus from the University straight to Bandarawatte, Biyagama. With a hand drawn map of the route, from the local bus terminus to the Pottery Museum and government run Production and Training Center of Clay Article, we were thankfully able to find this slightly hidden space. It is located along the … Read more
Raku at Colombo’s Art University | Part II
After lunch we began the raku firing with two students and the rest of the department looking on in glee. The glaze test samples were loaded into the outdoor raku gas kiln, sealed and the gas was ignited. We stood around discussing the various raku techniques the students had already experimented with for approximately 40 … Read more
Colombo’s Art University | Part I
The University of the Visual and Performing Arts in Colombo has a beautiful Ceramics department that we had the luck to be introduced to by fellow potter, Amrita Puniani. Its faculty members are sincere and genuine peoples who were extremely accommodating. Intrigued by our story, they immediately began to advise us on the pottery related … Read more
Sweet like Kandy
From Hatton we traveled north to Kandy with the old British locomotive route once more. It is a pleasant little hilly city but our agenda was to travel outside of the city to its local pottery community living in Molagoda. As we journeyed west on a local bus headed to Colombo we began to see, with … Read more
Climbing Adam’s Peak
From Hatton we intended to take the government bus to Delhouse. While we waited for the bus a Tuk Tuk driver engaged us in a 30-minute dialogue that eventually ended with us succumbing to his wish of taking us there: but we made a good deal with the man. And as it turned out he … Read more