I spent the weekend at the Ceramics Congress, which is an international multi-cultural multi-lingual ceramics arts festival that’s all online. It was awesome.
Here’s one thing I learned, in a workshop by Julissa Llosa Vite from Peru (as in, actually from Peru. That’s where she was teaching from. Did I mention “international”?): How to make a bird flute. I’d made ocarinas before, but had never quite figured out the voicing, i.e. the bit that makes the sound. It was always a hit-and-miss thing; after lots of fiddling, some worked, some didn’t. This time, it worked right off the bat!
Life, the Universe, and the Ceramics Congress. I think I’ll go carve some feathers on that bird now.
PS: The next Ceramics Congress is going to be at the end of November. If you’re at all interested in clay, check it out – the tickets start at only US $10!
PPS: If you want to learn how to make a bird flute, too, wait a few weeks, and Julissa’s workshop will be uploaded at the Ceramic School where you can purchase a ticket to watch it.
How wonderful it must be to make a singing bird out of the earth’s clay! It makes me marvel anew at the ingenuity of our ancestors to come up with such inventions and for that knowledge to be passed down for centuries. Thank you for all your creative posts. As a species, we now we can be the very worst on this planet. But we can also be brilliant in a million different ways. Must hang on to this positive thought. Thanks for the timely reminder!
I love working with clay because of that earthiness. It grounds me.
I was just reading about a New Science your to Machu Piso.
I’ve r tried to make a bird flute. I need to check out clay classes on Bainbridge Is.
I think you’d enjoy it! Once I got the hang of it it wasn’t hard.