My name is Ewa Lewandowska. Ceramics has been my passion for over 20 years.
My first teacher in turning pottery on the potter's wheel was the ceramist Bogusław Dobrowolski who runs a ceramic studio at the Centre of Polish Sculpture in Orońsko. Then I learned from the artist Remigiusz Gryt in his studio in Bielsko-Biała. I took further lessons from Penelope Vallejo Gomez in her studio in Santa Maria de Palautordera in Spain and from the ceramicists invited be her to teach at her studio. So far my teachers there have been Eddie Curtis and Jeff Shapiro who have spent years learning ceramics from the best masters in Japan.
I had my first direct contact with a Japanese master there in 2019. That was Kato Hiroshige, the twelfth generation of potters, cultivating the tradition of creating vessels in the mingei spirit in Seto, Japan. I also patricipated in a workshop run by Willy Van Bussel who specializes in making very thin porcelain vessels on potter's wheel.
Among other teachers I can mention Grzegorz Ośródka, a master of details in ceramics and a specialist in building wood fire kilns, as well as Dariusz Kużniak who specialises in crystalline glazes. I owe a great deal to Klaudia Gawin, courtesy of whom I have the opportunity to fire works in a wood fire kiln, and to Emilia Musiał who willingly shares her extensive ceramic experience with me. I am also grateful to the sculptor Rafal Frankiewicz for accompanying me on my artistic journey.
My latest greatest ceramic adventure was a month-long stay at the ceramic studio of master Kato Hiroshige in Seto, Japan in June/July 2023. There I learnt the ins and outs of the master's daily work, learning the wheel techniques, painting patterns on the work, glazing, creating moulds, and making my own pottery tools. I experienced the daily rhythm of my master's work and rest.
I met ceramicists who were friends of the master's. I attended an individual nerikomi art course taught by Mr. Tetsuo Nagae. I visited ceramic centres in Seto, Tokoname, Tajimi and Kyoto. I saw the impressive noborigama chamber kilns. I have visited dozens of galleries. I hope to translate these experiences into my own work with clay and in contact with people who visit my studio.
Why do I do pottery?
I do pottery because I like the rushing river and the calm surface of the lake.
I like the sand from the beach sliding between my fingers.
I like the wet mud from puddles on my hands and the fact that it cannot be washed away by the rain.
I like the fire and the smell of smoke.
I like the dry air and the fine dust of dried clay.
I like the hard rock and the mucky marshy meadow.
I like the stillness but also the swirling.
I like when time stands still and when it flows fast.
I like to touch, wedge, stroke, pat polish with a stone like others before me.
I like to decide if it is almost ready or not yet, or finally ready.
I like to look at the hot kilns.
I like to wait for the expected and the unexpected.
I like to thank the ashes.
I feel like being the clay.
Workshops for children
Thursdays
16:00-17:00
Fridays
16:00-17:00
Workshops for adults
Thursdays
17:00-19:00
Fridays
17:00-20:00