Cambodia 2020 - 30. Souvenirs

30. Souvenirs

We planned, we thought, we speculated. Where do we need to go to find an Apsara statue? In Bronze! How will we find it, pack it, ship it?

We knew what we wanted but finding it in a largish town with all kinds of art galleries surely will take some time and many stops.

Carol's Apsara Dancer and Hans' Shiva

We were done in 30 minutes!

Carol remembered seeing a shop near our hotel that eluded me.

We took a tuk-tuk who did not want to wait. OK, we will find another one, no problem.

We entered this family run store and they had exactly what we wanted.

And… they were willing to come down in price, too. It was a win/win deal.

Carol bought her Apsara and it’s quite nice. 

As for me… I added a Bronze Shiva to the sandalwood Shiva I already had from Bali.

 

Cambodia Is Also Known For Its Wicker. So - Another Souvenir

We are all done with souvenirs…. 30 minutes flat and we are back at the hotel.

Ana could not believe it… she was surprised to see us so soon.

We are off for today… loafing and doing nothing…..

Yippee!

Cambodia 2020 - 29. Khmer Ceramics

29. Khmer Ceramics

Our Class Was Under the Roofed Area. Shop Was In the Back

Another school to attend but I like schools like this, I don’t really get rated, cannot do wrong. Did I get an A?  No! But who cares?

Our Very Capable Teacher

Apron On - Ready to Go

This school was run as another “youngsters at risk” prevention school; we had a deaf mute as a teacher. She was a great teacher, she knew her stuff. We learned by watching her.

 

And So We Began

Carol and I donned aprons and our teacher showed us how to ‘throw’ a pot, or cup, or whatever we wanted to make. Carol and I became ‘potters’ for an hour or so. Our instructor showed us once how she makes pots and hers came out great, now it was our turn.

This Is Harder Than It Looks - Carol's Oops

Ha!  Did we giggle! This was fun!  Lots of “oops” but who cares.

Trying Again

My first try collapsed, could not be rescued. The clay from this trial was returned to the pile.

Hans - Success!     Carol - Another Oops

Trying Again

On the 2^nd try I was a bit more careful and with some help from the teacher I made a cup? pot? Let’s call it ‘art piece’. I had to have my ‘art’ fired in a kiln later on. I even made some abstract lines on the outside as I wanted my ‘art’ piece to be unique.

Finally - Success!

No it was not great but it was great fun.

Concentrating to Add the Design

Pottery making is not as easy as it looks, especially when you have to keep on turning the turntable with one foot, keep it going at all times, add a bit of water, keep an even pressure on the wet clay, tug, pull and adjust here and there. Like anything else, practice makes perfect, but Carol and I had never done this before. It is important to use your fingers just so, move too much, wiggle and ‘oops’.

Hans' Bowl On the Right - Carol's = 2 On Left
When Fired, They Turn This Lovely Colour

EXPENSIVE! The Bronze on the Right = US $495.
The Green Elephant = US 2,495!

Our pots were fired like I said, the whole ‘course’ costs us $25 per person (but we had a hotel coupon for $25 off) which included firing 1 pot each and which we were allowed to keep. 

We paid an extra $5 for the extra pot that we kept. But from that you need to deduct the fee for the tuk-tuk ride to and from the school.

Carol's Weird Mugs

They had a boutique full of professionally made pots. Nice store with some unique items. I bought a rice bowl with chop sticks, I love this bowl. I also found a gift for Ana; she has been good to us.

Hans' Rice Bowl

Carol found some Khmer mugs, mugs with ‘faces’ on them.

It was a fun day, glad we went…