Ceramics added to Craft House repetoire

Ceramic art on display

Ceramic art on display

Basseterre, St. Kitts, August 16, 2012 (SKNIS): The St. Kitts Craft House and its sister organization in Nevis have now added ceramics to its art-forms, thanks to a recently concluded workshop.

Under the guidance of workshop facilitator Marie Sutton-Mason of Nevis, eight participants completed the 10-day ceramics course which involved pouring moulds, use of ceramics tools, cleaning the green ware and mending of damaged green ware.

Ms. Mason explained that greenware is really clay that is poured into a mould.

“It’s not the colour green, but it’s in the early stages of ceramics – when you first pour it into moulds,” Ms. Mason explained. “Ceramics can take many forms, and you can create many objects, so it’s versatile. Compared to pottery, ceramics can be made much faster and you can produce more items this way. This is especially important in the tourist industry and I do believe that’s why Mr. Weekes chose the ceramic workshop.”

Austin Weekes, General Manager of the St. Kitts Craft House, explained that the precursor of the ceramics training was a six-week pottery workshop that took place three years ago. He noted that of the 45participants, 10 have continued the craft and currently produce handcrafted works of clay. The General Manager revealed that the ceramic workshop trained eight individuals, including staff of the Nevis Craft House. He took the opportunity to explain how the skills level at the Craft House has increased.

“In the past 12 years the Craft House has taught no less than 12 disciplines, and we are now adding ceramic arts to this list,” Mr. Weekes informed. “This augers well not only for the Craft House but for artists or entrepreneurs that will be coming on stream. The Craft House is therefore doing its part in not only assisting the development of the craft sector, but also the overall growth of the tourism industry.”

The participants were presented with certificates and encouraged to make good use of their newfound skills.

Shenya Jeffers (left) accepts Ceramics Workshop Certificate from Ms. Mason	James Supersaud Jr. accepts Ceramics Workshop Certificate from Ms. Mason