Guldagergaard – a name that I can never pronounce it well in Danish, but it is definitely a place that I will never forget.
I am so glad that I had the chance to meet and work with all those lovely people in Guldagergaard, The International Ceramics Research Center, in Danmark last month. It was such a nice experience to take part in the mold-making workshop and to participate and witness various wood firings happened during my stay.
I am grateful for the time we spent together exploring the new techniques; the support we had for each other during the making process; the open-minded discussion and sharing at all time; and the delicious meals that we had every night. It was such a remarkable place where people from different cultures and backgrounds gathered for the same reason – ceramics. I would say the most valuable thing that I learned was not the technique (though it is quite important as well), but the passion people have for the clay and the firing.
was very much impressed by the wood firing people, for their inexhaustible enthusiasm and the genuine community spirit that they shared. To be honest, ‘wood firing’ was a remote word for a city person like me, and I felt extremely lucky that they took me in regardless my ignorance of the practice. They showed me the whole process such how to select and split the wood, how to control the fire and temperature, how the flame changes color and so on… and most of all, the beautiful kiln stars!
Certainly, there were a lot of hard works, struggles and problems in between, we worked days and nights striving for excellence. But I think we all come through and learn from experiences. I am happy to say that those memories now become motivations for me to further explore and develop my own work. Again, I am truly thankful for the help and encouragement that I received during that time.
By the way, you can click here to see the Slant Vase/Planter that I made. I am very happy with the results, the double rainbow we saw in the kiln yard did send me some good luck! I hope you can see them from the photo, they are just right there on the left corner!
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