Campbells

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Friday, March 19, 2010

Cappedocia Part III: Old Time Pottery

The Cappedocian region is famous for a river, called the "Red River." There you find red clay, which has been used to make pottery since the time of the Hittites. That's a long time! So, one fun thing to do while there is to visit pottery shops and factories. We were advised to try out a "Mom and Pop" type shop rather than the big commercialized factories. It was a great find. The man who owned the shop had made all the pottery in it, just like his father and his grandfather had done before him. He had some beautiful pieces. My dream one day...someday...is to buy these beautiful, not-terribly-expensive plates...all different..and use them as my dinnerware. They are lovely. Here is his shop.
He was so happy to have us come in. He sat right down and kicked his spinning wheel into motion and formed a pot. My girls were mesmerized. One immediately announced she wanted to grow up to be a potter and that she'd have the verse, "I am the potter, you are the clay" across her storeroom. It was amazing to watch how quickly he turned a lump of clay into something useful. There are many lessons here!
Then, the biggest treat of all! He told the girls to come make a pot. He even told Firstborn to throw on his work gear!
We now have 3 unique creations drying and setting up on our balcony, as well as a wonderful memory all "set up" in our minds.
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4 comments:

Tara G. said...

I love of your posts that I've read so far! We had a military assignment several years ago where we did a lot of traveling- wondering what lodging would be like, discovering lots of neat things, and meeting wonderful people of many different nations. We were in Turkey for a few days, and wished we could have done more. Perhaps we'll be able to-we're back in Ukraine and not too far away!

Melanie Keffer said...

Now that is awesome!! One of my favorite things is making pottery. You've gotten in my neck of the woods now!!

Even though it has been a few years, I remember "throwing" against the bat to remove the impurities. Always something that stuck out to me . . . Like you said, many lessons in pottery making.

OKAY! It's decided. Turkey is definitely a future destination. I am sure I will have to visit Kathleen on foreign soil one of these days, so I'll just have to swing through Turkey also.

It looks like ya'll had a lot of fun!

M

Amy Prikazsky said...

Wow! Incredible! I loved looking at all the pictures! I just found your blog and love it! I'm a new follower!

Mandy said...

Wow... reminds me how much I missed making pottery on the wheel! It's been since college. Although I have never tried a "kick" wheel... I used electric! Glad your girls got to experience it!

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