Checkered huts, colourful chickens, charming angels, and plates so beautiful that it’s with heavy heart that we put anything on them. The ceramics workshops MK Ceramika in Pęplino near Ustka creates small pieces of art. All because the owner of the workshop, Magdalena Kamińska, devoted herself completely to her passion.
– How did I end up here? Life brought me here. I looked for a way to express myself, and I found it. I always had keen interest in ceramic arts. Arts in general always played an important role in my life. When I arrived here, to the countryside, I felt that I began to find true fulfillment – says Magdalena Kamińska.
She is inspired by her surroundings. The “checkered land”, half-timbered buildings, folk art, Kashubian customs. She tries to convey the richness of regional culture into what she creates.
– There are a lot of roosters in my ceramic works, because I simply adore them. They remind me of the place where I live, and of the place where I spent my childhood – says Magdalena Kamińska.
The roosters come in all shapes and sizes. There are those typically decorative, as well as those that cane be used to store various items in, such as sweets or nuts.
However, the entire ceramic menagerie doesn’t lack multicolour houses, clay pots, home-guarding angels, or stunningly decorated plates. All simple in form, without strange twists. This is a kind of magical world, where there is no place for sorrows.
How do these ceramic marvels come to be? You form whatever’s on your mind from chamotte mass, then you put it to dry in a ceramic stove at 900 degrees Celsius. Next, all items are decorated with ceramic glaze, and then again put in the stove at at least 1000 degrees Celsius. The entire process is time-consuming, but its effects are worth waiting for.
The workshop isn’t big, but this is what the artist had in mind. The entire place was supposed to be cosy, and evoke childhood memories. The workshop, which is located in a clay hut, is filled with ceramic checkered houses, hens and roosters. It is the best advertisement of this place. – Making my ceramic dreams come true, I created a sort of micro open-air museum of clay. The entire hut is filled with hay and folk music. The clay hut is filled with my memories, as well as the memories of Pęplino local community – says the artist, inviting to her ceramic workshops, which involve forming clay figures and glazing them.
The workshops are open to anyone who’s interested. They only condition: you need to let know beforehand, as the artist works in small groups of approximately 7 people. All in order to teach the secrets of the art and be closer to one other. Just like that.
