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It all started by accident. One day Namfon Kanjanasaya happened
across a potter who was making interesting bowls and she wanted
to learn the technique. At the time she worked as a marine biologist
at the Phuket Marine Biological Center. She invited the potter to
open a studio on a piece of family land in Kathu District. She agreed
to build the studio if he would supervise the making of ceramics.
When the studio was completed, the potter disappeared and Namfon
found that she had a complete ceramics studio complete with kilns
and no one to operate it.
She called on her sister Chernporn, who was working as a writer
and photographer for Kinnaree Magazine, to return to Phuket and
become a potter. Together, the two gave up their professional careers
in 1991 to embark in a new direction, creating distinctive ceramics
for the growing hotel and tourism market.
The first few years were difficult as they had to learn the techniques
of turning clay into a strong ceramic. And then they had to learn
to mix glazes and create ceramics that would appeal to the market.
They decided to use their love of the sea as a theme and today Ceramics
of Phuket can be seen in most five star resorts in Southern Thailand.
"My sister and I are both divers. We love the life under the sea.
So we have a collection called Blue Pacific and another called Deep
Andaman which both show the action of the sea and ocean," explained
Khun Chernporn.
The two sisters buy their clay from a company in Bangkok which
collects soil from around Thailand to make the best composite for
ceramics. But Namfon discovered an even better way to use the clay.
"We made many mistakes in the beginning. We bought clay that we
had to fire two or three times and we had a lot of breakage," comments
Namfon, "and then one day I thought about adding some Phuket tin
to the clay. It was amazing that suddenly we only needed to fire
our ceramics once for them to obtain the strength we wanted."
Ceramics of Phuket is a distinctive local art. The sisters are
always experimenting with new techniques as using gold to decorate
stoneware. The studio is constantly expanding, creating new patterns
of dining ware, custom tiles and most recently, ceramics murals
of Thai legends. Their work has become so well known that they are
exporting to Hong Kong and Switzerland.
"We are pleased to make any kind of ceramic that our customers
request. Just bring us a sketch. Currently we are making outdoor
garden sculptures that can be used to plant a herb garden," says
Khun Chernporn, "the possibilities just seem endless."
Contact Ceramics of Phuket at (66 76)
321 917
or email at
ceramics@phuketweb.com
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