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Wali Hawes 1952 - 2014 |
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Wali Hawes Potter's Diary |
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Workshop at Good Earth, Alibag, Bombay y Anupama Pant?Indian Made Japanese Potter: A Workshop with Wali Hawes February 14th-19th saw a group of twelve Bombay potters make their way across the water to Alibaug to attend an ?Experimental Firing? workshop hosted by Perin and Ralli Jacob. The workshop was being conducted by Wali Hawes, an Anglo-Indian, originally from Bombay but now living and working in Japan, whom Ralli refers to as an ?Indian Made Japanese Potter.? We did as many as twelve firings in a span of five days! The wall kilns, paper kilns and raku kilns were all built within forty-five minutes each, by us. As Wali said, ?it just takes a pile of bricks and some pairs of hands? to build them. The wall kiln (width of two brick lengths) can be of unlimited length and height, both updraft and downdraft making it very flexible in terms of firing techniques. The sealing of the entire kiln body was done as simply as covering it with eight layers of newsprint dipped in slurry mixed with cow dung, after the pots were stacked. A variety of firings were done e.g. fast firing with salts thrown in, carbonization and reduction. We used rice husk, sawdust, wood shavings, charcoal, and rock salt for the firings. The paper kiln was very unique. The kiln was built on a rectangular foundation of bricks loosely piled to a height of eighteen inches over which a grate was placed to support the pots and the wood. A kiln shelf was placed, then a brasier, with which a layer of rice husk was placed, charcoal, rock salt, sodium carbonate, copper sulphate and iron-chloride. The pots were decorated with terra sigillata made out of two bodies-the ?ganapati clay?,(local clay used to make ganesh statues) and yellow clay. The burnishing we discovered was very easy and effective with small polythene sheets which resulted in a beautiful sheen. Charcoal was placed around the pots and in between. Wood was placed vertically around the pots and then covered with slurry all the way to the bottom of the kiln. A small gap was left and a simple tin pot was used as a chimney. Except for the raku kiln (gas), all firing was wood, or charcoal firing. The raku firing we experimented with was Wali?s Shin Raku (?new? in Japanese). Wali says, ? Traditionally Japanese used raku to make bowls ?rakuchawan? for the tea ceremony. Japanese raku is fired at a high temperature (1200C) and reduction is done with wood, in the kiln and never reduced outside the kiln or quenched in water?. His Shin Raku is a blend of Japanese and non-Japanese raku with post firing innovative intervention. We used paper clay (two parts egg carton pulp, plus three parts clay, plus one part grog), to do a raku firing. The raku kilns were used for Egyptian paste as well as Spanish luster glazing. Spanish luster originated in Persia. Spain was a colony of Arabia and therefore the influence of Majolica and luster, now known in Spain as ?reflejos metalicos?. Spanish luster is very different from what we know as metallic glazes and on glazes. Spanish luster being very expensive, as it uses pure gold and silver in its recipes, is usually used for decorative purposes and fired between 950-1050C. We used red, gold and peacock luster, the results of which were fantastic. The workshop was an amazing experience for the potters who attended, being the first experimental firing workshop with Bombay studio potters. Wali Hawes left India in his childhood, grew up and studied in England for fourteen years, moved to Spain for ten years, and is finally residing in Japan for the past fourteen years. Wali has made innumerable visits to India for nostalgic reasons, but this trip, he got involved in the Studio Pottery experience here. Living and learning in Japan has been great for him as pottery is really appreciated in that country. But as he said, the downside is that they are extremely rigid, despite their avant- garde image. This workshop was meant to take us away from pure forms as well as break the mystery around pottery. He wanted to work with materials available locally, conditions not in our control and therefore, make it unique. As he says, six hundred or two thousand years back, we did not have pyrometers so ? work with instinct, not only technology?. All apprehensions about building kilns and using all sorts of materials, from pieces of leather to ?phuljaris?, evaporated when we saw the results. It was a great experience to have Wali share his knowledge, encourage us to overcome the lack of trust and secretiveness we sometimes have in sharing our ideas and take studio pottery to a higher creative level. Though exhausted at the end of five days, he was singing and trying to teach some of us flamenco. At the end of a wonderfully vibrant and creative workshop, great hospitality by Perin and Rally Jacob, and of course the materials provided by Kishore bhai Garodia (without whose support this workshop would not be possible) a very inspired lot of potters returned to Bombay. Anupama Pant 06/06/2005
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