Women learn ceramics at new art center
The National Center for Art Education located on the S.J.C. campus, was opened in May. The building, a project of the Michael Ashcroft Foundation and governments of Taiwan and Belize, was built to promote and advance the creative talents of Belizeans. And that’s exactly what it’s doing this week, as Jose Sanchez discovered.
Art is not necessarily child’s play, it is also big business in an age when the tourism industry is rapidly growing. Hoping to encourage entrepreneurs, the National Women’s Commission has decided to train fifteen women in ceramic design. Damian Perdomo, S.J.C.’s art teacher, says that ceramics can be produced with very little capital investment.
Damian Perdomo, Art Teacher
“This is what I mentioned would cost fourteen Belize dollars. This is just the basic tool that you would need both for potters wheel and for hand building. You have your sponge which is the most important tool in here. We have the needle, the modeling tool, and the rib which we all use for hand building. We have the wooden rib and the trimmers which we use for the potters wheel. This is just your basic pottery tool kit besides this all you need are your hands and you’re set.”
Jose Sanchez
“And these women came set to get dirty.”
Lucia Ellis,
“It’s good stress release. I’m taking it for that, that’s my primary reason. To do something creative, something different and I also wanted to learn it for economic purposes. I want to be able to make clay pots, masks, and jewelry myself and maybe sell, make gifts for friends. There are lots of possibilities. Here in Belize the range of craft that’s available is limited to straw and we have lots of clay in Belize and I was excited to hear we can use the local clay and he did explain this morning how to process it.”
Damian Perdomo
“All I am doing is telling them how to process clay, different hand forming techniques, different techniques of adding decor to pottery and we might be doing some handcrafts and making jewelry out of ceramics. Whatever they are interested in, I am going to give examples of how to go about executing it properly.”
Estelle Smith, 71yrs
“I love it because I love art and this gives me a chance to do it now. That’s why I am so happy about today. I didn’t know it was going to be that good.”
Jose Sanchez
“How long have you wanted to do this?”
Estelle Smith
“Ever since I started the jewelry because I make costume jewelry and I love that.”
Though they are amateurs, the women have been paying keen attention and have produced several vases, cups and dishes on the first day of the two-week course.
Estelle Smith
“I made these three, this is like a wine glass. This is a little basket to put in all the sewing necessities like scissors and buttons and thread and needles. And this is a candy dish. This is all I made today and I am trying to make a little vase. I’m happy, the day is well spent.”
Steph Ann Cayetano, 9yrs
“Well we make pottery and stuff, and you get to get your hands in clay.”
Jose Sanchez
“You want to be an artist when you grow up?”
Steph Ann Cayetano
“Yes.”
Jose Sanchez
“So what are you making?”
Steph Ann Cayetano
“A pencil thing, a pencil case.”
Watching the different designs come to life awakened my creativity and nine-year-old Steph Ann and I switched roles. She became the reporter while I molded a piece of clay.
Steph Ann Cayetano
“What are you doing?”
Jose Sanchez
“Well I am making a little clay figurine of a woman. See there are little breasts, and her back, and even a little part of a butt.”
Steph Ann Cayetano
“What do you like about it? About the woman or the clay?”
Jose Sanchez
“The clay, I like clay because it feels nice when you have to touch it and it’s wet and you use your own fingers. You can be creative and you can put it together and say “I did this”.
The process is not complete as yet, Perdomo explains that the clay models still need finishing touches.
Damian Perdomo
“You can paint, you can add glazes and you can basically handle it in whatever way you want. You can smoothen the texture of the pot and after you’ve done whatever modification you wanted to do, we put it in a gas kiln which you take to 2400 degrees Fahrenheit which is done basically for glazing of pots which makes ordinary mud and water look like glass.”
Ceramics are not new to the region, Mayan history shows that the earliest Belizeans are the original artisans of the New World. Their designs have been preserved in burial chambers and caves for thousands of years. How long these will last is anybody’s guess.
The ceramic classes of the National Women’s Commission were sponsored by the Image Factory, Hivos and St. John’s College.
