Wassi Art: Pottery Studio in Ocho Rios Jamaica

Last week my mother and I visited Wassi Art pottery studio located in Ocho Rios. We got a tour and talked at length with the artists about the process.

Local clay is dug from the Blue Mountains.



Wassi pottery brings the clay back to their manufacturing studio in Ocho Rios. There it is processed. First it is washed to remove impurities.



Then it is poured into canvas lined troughs.



Once it is firmer it is scooped out onto plaster to further dry. When it is still soft enough to work it is wedged so that all air is worked out.



The master potter makes all of the wheel thrown vessels.



Then the artists are passed the pots to alter, paint with slip and do sgraffito. Each pot is unique.







Once they are dry they are bisque fired to about 2000ºF.



Then they are dipped in clear glaze and fired again to 2000ºF.



Each unique piece has the signature of the artist.

sweet sorrow

it is said that parting is a sweet sorrow. i have to agree.

tonight we had our last family supper together. we enjoyed shrimp, squid, stuffed eggplant, marinated then fried chicken, tomato mozzarella olive "skyscrapers," bread and white wine.

after supper a few friends came over to have a glass of cava (spain's champagne, very good) and bid me farewell.

santanet, natalia's partner, made me a mask. it is of his face and painted with gold and it is beautiful.

vanesa gave me her latest painting: Medusa. it is amazing. i can't wait to get home and frame and hang it. looking at it will make me happy.

my eyes are tearful and my feelings are mixed. today has been bittersweet.

tomorrow morning we go to the airport in barcelona. i head to jfk in new york and then to chicago's ohare airport. tomorrow night i will sleep in my chicago bed.

i miss my friends and family in chicago a ton, but i am very unready to leave my friends and family here. ay, ay.

august will be fabulous. i'll keep you posted.

Paris

i spent the weekend in paris. my aunt irene from california is there on vacation and she invited me to join her for a few days. she is vacationing with a friend whose daughter has been living in paris for the past 3+ years.

we had a fabulous time. we did an historic walking tour, visited some museums, churches and cathedrals, did a boat tour on the seine, ate lots of cheese and drank some wine.

my aunt and i got the chance to know each other better.

i took almost 300 photos. since the advent of the digital camera it is super easy to just click away. i am now tasked with sorting through the images and selecting the best to share with you.

in the evening the eiffel tower is illuminated. on top of that, at the top of every hour it literally sparkles for 5 minutes. photos simply don't do it justice.

there is so much to do and see and eat in paris that 3 days don't even begin to do it justice. however, at least now i have had a taste and know that i like it. someday i hope to go back to see and learn more.

for now, i am back in celrá for a few days until my vacation comes to an end and i return to chicago. i must admit that i am reluctant to leave. i love it here in catalunya.

i do also love all of my friends and family in chicago and i will be seeing you all very soon. for those of you waiting for postcards, i am sure that i will arrive before anything else...and i hope you weren't expecting a spanish stamp.

photo gallery

a myriad of photos from various excursions and experiences in Catalunya and southern France. i believe that if you click on the photo it will take you to the picasa web album.

23-27 junio

avignon road trip

last weekend vanesa, her mother carmen, and i did a road trip up the coast into the south of france (the border is about 55 kilometers from here). our final destination was avignon, to visit the town and view an exhibit of the art of Miquel Barceló.

along the way we made several stops. the first was in a town called Cèret where we wandered through a local market, signed a protest against bull fighting, and stopped in at the museum to take in some art. the featured exhibit was works by an artist by name of jean-pierre pinceman.
the permanent collection features many famous names including Chagall, Gris, Matisse and many more. there is a decent sized collection of Picasso's ceramics (more than on display in the museé picasso in barcelona).

from here we made our way up to the town of Sète for lunch. the waterway runs through town, somewhat reminiscent of venice, or so they claim. after lunch we walked for a while and we stopped into a bar for a coffee and to watch the argentina v germany match. my hostesses are from girona by way of argentina by way of girona. vanesa was born in argentina; her mother was born here. the french were all for germany. we left at the half, when argentina was down 0-1.

next we stopped in a town called Aigues-Mortes. here we wandered through the narrow streets of a fortress and stopped for a beer. by this time we had learned that argentina had failed miserably in its attempt to progress in the copa mundial; the final score was 0-4 for germany.

we went on to Arles to find a hotel, shower and look for supper. unfortunately, this particular weekend was that of their town festival, so all rooms were booked. we continued on towards avignon, and there we finally found a hotel, showers and food.

the next morning we set out to view the Barceló exhibit, which was actually parceled into three buildings: the Palais des papes, the Museé du petit palais and the Collection lambert en avignon. at one point in history (i believe it was the 14th century) the papacy fled rome to avignon. inside a section of this palace was installed part of the Barceló exhibit. his creations were everywhere, including some placements of masks on the heads of some of tombs. this was quite cool and fun. apparently barceló was following in the footsteps of picasso by exhibiting here.


the exhibits continued with a small selection in the petit palais and an extensive collection of paintings in the Lambert collection (no cameras allowed).

after sating ourselves with good art, we grabbed some sandwiches and hit the road back home.

unfortunately, we all wound up with colds. summer colds are no fun and i'm having a particularly difficult time kicking mine. i thought it was on its way out and today it decided to move back in full force. erg.
i have to kick it because this weekend vanesa and i are going to cadaqués...