Ganesh: Slipped, Dipped, Fired

When I last left our hero, Ganesh he was fresh from the bisque firing and I was deciding what to do next. Well here he is being dipped in slip, not actually a glaze, but the way the slip reacts with the fire and ash in the kiln does give it a quality of being 'glazed'. (that is the point)

I could only watch (and take pictures) of Ganesha and his bench (rat mobile) got dunked in a large bucket of slip with much more capable hands than mine....

My task after his dip was to go all around the creices and make sure it was smooth so the sip didn't crack which would create a weird surface....it seemed to work....

Voilà! Here he is photographed fresh out of the wood fire kiln, all toasty warmly aglow....He is making passage now to the States. He decided to immigrate to New York. He'll be in good company.

Ganesha making

The time in Pondicherry before the 'road trip' was spent at Golden Bridge Pottery making a Ganesh.

I had made 'them' before, a lot. It had obsessed me.  Then I stopped making them, for a variety of reasons, none of which were very clear to me at the time. I went to the wheel and tableware and stencils.....all good.

But when I went to Japan and met Ray & Deb (who run Golden Bridge) I was advised by Ray (Meeker) and Jeff Shapiro (who is an extraordinary ceramicist as well and ran the Japan trip) to go back to Ganesh and continue the relationship and explore that avenue. 

Initially, I tried throwing different parts of Ganesh on the wheel. It was a manual kick wheel, that we saw heaps of in Japan. Compared to my Lockerbie a motorised kick wheel at home, it was like attempting to play tennis with a baseball. The voice that spoke to me, that dialogued with me would have nothing to do with the idea either. "Madame, you have to make me with your hands, not with parts from a wheel. You must touch the details of who I am." This is a deity that is much beloved in India and actually all over the world. He's the remover of obstacles, the deity invoked when beginning a new endeavour. He is a taskmaster. At least to me.

 

He or the part of 'he' that is 'me' or however you want to explain this consciousness spoke to me and we had a dialogue in his creation. The push/pull of how he should sit, the size of his trunk, the gaze of his eyes or his 'waking up'. Which I found out is a big deal when they make the giant ones for ceremonies. The photo below left is the first attempt, a bit too 'Disney' and it got altered.

This time I made Ganesh's vehicle 'Mooshika' a rat or mouse that he sits on or rides. This time I made an Indian style bench. Mooshika is considered 'the little hoarder' who is hyper and is completely run by his senses. Sound familiar? Ganesh 'riding' this creature is the idea of a deity in control over the senses. I see it as the greater consciousness over the material conscious mind. That's my take as the western white girl who makes these things. Who doesn't know why she does it. At all.

So here's my Ganesh after a wood bisque firing sitting on his rat mobile (vehicle) with a bit of clay supports. I'll post the pix of him being glazed (actually with slip) in the next entry.

Different Stuff: South India Tour Part 3 (final)

The furthest reach of the Tamil Nadu tour was Aiynnar Kovil. There is a temple filled with these horse statures that are about 50-150 years old. There are also figures as well, but not larger than life as are many of the horses. This temple is very small, the grounds are littered with these statues, many in pieces; a head here, legs and lower body there.... It is in the middle of nowhere, according to my urban sensibility and the driver who took me all over.  We had to ask a lot of shepherds and farmers to get directions. It was so worth it!

These statues are made by hand with clay coils in pieces: first the 4 legs and lower body, then then the upper body and lower neck, then the head and neck, the ears and tails are added at the end. All the pieces fit neatly together and can be fired together assembled. My friend Shirley Bhatnagar, (ceramic artist extrordinnaire) has watched them being made and really appreciated the simple elegance of the construction method.

There are also figures, here are a group of ladies. Also a lot of men as kings and some deities. The ladies sitting as a group, as if a hen party, intrigued me the most.

This is the pujari or temple overseer of the place. He had a lovely energy about him, calm and sanguine. He seemed to get a kick out of my enthusiasm about the  horses. His uncles and grandfather was part of the team that made these statues. This small desolate location has had movies shot here and the following day was a big mela (festival) expecting 100+ people. The pujari invited me to stay to be a party of the mela, but large devotional festivals don't really agree with me. It's just not my thing as a western big city dweller. Enthusiastic crowds are to be avoided whether it be for spiritual devotion, sports or shopping.

The area around the temple was desolate, dry farmland spotted with dry rice beds, goats and cows.
I am told after the rainy season it is green and lush. It is also a large quarry area for the granite that supplies many buildings and temples. Even in it's arid emptiness, I found the colours of brown and beige, punctuated with green trees and succulents very beautiful.

So before I left for the north, now reporting to you from Jaipur, I had to finish my own sculpture. At a much smaller scale, I made a Ganesh. Picture and story to come next.

More Stuff (less sublime) in South India: Part 2

This picture, and the ones following were taken outside of a couple of different temples in Tamil Nadu. I think this one and the next few were in Swamimalai and the others were Thanjuvar. Personally I am not particularly interested in Temples, despite my interest in creating deities, but sometimes the life around the temples can be interesting (read, photographic). I hope these pictures are interesting/entertaining to you.

Then the driver found this bronze 'factory' that uses the lost wax method and creates these bronze sculptures, some are hammered as well. It's India 'old school'.

Then as a finale, as promised the Palace Museum in Thanjuvar and their take (if you can call it that) on 'exhibition design'. More like, the lack there of.... To me it was an interesting juxtaposition of sublime and ridiculous. You decide.

Sublime Stuff (in South India): Part 1

While taking an excursion in Tamil Nadu I saw a bunch of stuff.  Small and large Chola Temples, about 1000 years old with incredible details of sculptured deities and their entourage. Yallis for example, are human bodies animal heads, like Ganesh for example. (so you can imagine my interest).

But in the first small temple was a giant Nandi bull and this giant Cat which had a room in it's belly, making it a building that really impressed me too. 

Visiting a temple, one must remove one's footwear. I had forgotten. But in this case, there is a lush green lawn that felt wonderful between my toes. In some of the other temples there were sisal runners that helped, otherwise my tender footed nature was really getting broiled. So I was running from one shady patch to the next. Some of these patches got crowded with other tenderfoots. There were a couple of tour groups that apparently been warned; they were wearing socks.

There was a visit to the palace in Thanjuvar to see the Chola bronzes. The height of the Chola period which started in the 3rd century was during the 10th-11th century when they were creating amazing temples and beautiful bronze sculptures. It was a time when the arts really flourished and a disciplined government was put into practice. Think Italian Renaissance in a few centuries to come. So, back to the bronze sculptures. Ever since I saw my first in Paris at the Guimet museum I have been captivated by their grace and form. The Nataraj (photo below) or the dancing Shiva creating the Universe. You can see that also in the stone sculpture on the temples as well. The palace museum was 'kinda funky' it was an interesting contrast in sublime and ridiculous. Unfortunately, the pix are on my other card....next posting. But here are some examples of the bronzes themselves without showing how they are shown (too much).

So there it is for a bit. I'm back in Pondicherry now for several more days. I am curious to see how the Ganesh I made while here did in the bisque fire. Fingers crossed! If the results are positive I will share them. Meanwhile I'll write next on the less sublime more everyday aspect of the trip. Nothing bad, well not really, just a contrast. The contrast that is India. But before I go here is a view from the terrace where I stayed at the Ideal River View Resort. It truly was Ideal.

Golden Bridge Pottery – Pondicherry, India

Greetings from South India!
Along way from home, but now happily ensconced in a home away from home.

I have been working here on a Ganesh sculpture. It is heaven! I think Ganesh put the obstacle of my computer breakdown in my path so I would go analogue and pay attention to his creation. Though Ganesh is suppose to be the remover of obstacles. His obstacles not mine?

Golden Bridge Pottery was founded by my wonderful hosts Ray Meeker & Deborah Smith in 1971. They have trained and taught many Indian nationals the skill, craft and art of production pottery and artistry of ceramics. If this were Japan, they would be considered national treasures. 

For about 40 years Ray taught a 7 month course to mostly young woman the skill and practice of working with clay. They were probably (but not necessarily) artistically minded, it was something to do while waiting to get married or go to graduate school, etc. He has created a generation of formidable artists. I mean kick ass! The few that I've met, they're passion for the medium and dedication is impressive. Also they're appreciation for Deb & Ray. 

They are taught (6 days a week, all day) from the making of clay to wheel throwing to glaze making and wood firing. The 7 months is a distillation of a 4 year BFA. Distilled to the coursework for a ceramic major. IMHO anyway.

More to come but wanted to set the scene. I am doing this with my thumbs in an iPhone, so time to rest the digits.

Like vs Possibility

People ask me why I go to India so much. "You must really like it....", they say. I don't think it's about liking it. It's too difficult a place to like, meaning it's not a lukewarm kinda thing, which is what like seems to me. I have left at least twice, perhaps 3 times saying I would never return. No one believed me, except me. But I can't be one of those Indiaphiles saying how much I love India.
Because on a personality level I don't. It's hard to be tested. It's difficult to be patient and out of ones 'comfort zone'. To be astonished by poverty and magic and utter chaos, happening all at the same time. It's hard walking around feeling sorry for people and also be annoyed that they look at you as walking ATM machines. Or witness or be the recipient of a wonderful act of kindness or generosity while going crazy with the sound of honking horns or stench of garbage or watching a sick dog limping down the street. Yeah, you've heard varieties of this kind of description before. Seen photos of such things. I have nothing new to add. Except it's not about 'like' or even love. It's more about acceptance and being able to be open hearted and not shut down or overwhelmed while having these experiences that are difficult, uncomfortable if not just painful or confusing or all at the same time.

But in my search for God knows what (and that's about the only entity that might know): love of travel, pottery, design, beauty and some truth in all that...
I keep returning to India. This time by way of Japan, which I naively thought would be my 'replacement', as in 'Japan is the new India as my 'go to' place.
But I met Deb and Ray there (Japan) and we really got along and they run a pottery concern, 'Golden Bridge Pottery'. They are expats who have lived in Pondicherry since 1971. We all enjoyed our time together so much, they generously invited me to come visit. So I am. Just to make it clear: it's not because I like India.

Something I noticed: While visiting in Japan I noticed that Japanese do not like to say 'no'. They say, 'it is not possible'. They consider this more polite and more pleasing and cultural aesthetic. In India, I often hear, 'anything is possible (madame)'. Because there, in India it is. Mostly it shows up in the guise of utter chaos. So with trepidation and a bit of a chip on my shoulder or a bit of fear of getting sick from something I ate, AGAIN. *sigh*  Off I go! Will keep you abreast of the chaos I roll into as the blog ambles forward. Namaste.