From the time I was a little girl,I have have been in awe of mud and creations from mud[that's how I used to refer to terracotta...mud!]
Well !This dream remained one ,till recently.I got in touch with an lady who does tutorial videos for terracotta jewellery and its available at a cost.I found it just the thing I wanted ,at least to make a start.
So soon I was jotting down tips and trying my hand out at kneading and punching into fine mud and water.It has a magical and fun ..almost therapeutic feel to it.The heady aroma of wet mud takes me back to my childhood and the rains..each and every time i have to make an extra batch of "dough"
The messy procedure is best made perfect by regularly working on it.Beware,your nails will be muck filled and palms will turn dry,be sure to moisturize post every 'muddy' session.
The first hurdle for me was to procure the raw material.Mumbai has a lot of kumbharwadas [colony of potters]but hardly any kumbhars[potters-the magicians who create magical stuff from mud] and kilns.So I set out on a search of !.
1.Mud for the jewellery
2.Kiln for firing the dried pieces of jewellery
3.Materials needed for painting and stringing the jewellery.
4.Display and packing materials.
Have to thank my stars for a very understanding and cooperative partner..my soul mate ..my husband.He did most of the search and we ended up in the Mahim Kumbharwada,where we got ready made sifted and smooth mud in bori's[sacks].There was no need to filter and sieve the coarse clay and wait for it to sediment and then drain n collect the fine mud..it was available ready made...what luck!I am not sure if its the same case in other cities of India.well it is in Mumbai :)
The person we bought the bori from,was ready to fire the material when they were ready.Ofcourse it came with a price tag..understandable .
Now we had to collect the materials needed to paint and string the beads.These things we got from the vast vast markets of Bhuleshwar,in Mumbai.
Now I was all set to get my first set of goods ready ...
Well !This dream remained one ,till recently.I got in touch with an lady who does tutorial videos for terracotta jewellery and its available at a cost.I found it just the thing I wanted ,at least to make a start.
So soon I was jotting down tips and trying my hand out at kneading and punching into fine mud and water.It has a magical and fun ..almost therapeutic feel to it.The heady aroma of wet mud takes me back to my childhood and the rains..each and every time i have to make an extra batch of "dough"
The messy procedure is best made perfect by regularly working on it.Beware,your nails will be muck filled and palms will turn dry,be sure to moisturize post every 'muddy' session.
The first hurdle for me was to procure the raw material.Mumbai has a lot of kumbharwadas [colony of potters]but hardly any kumbhars[potters-the magicians who create magical stuff from mud] and kilns.So I set out on a search of !.
1.Mud for the jewellery
2.Kiln for firing the dried pieces of jewellery
3.Materials needed for painting and stringing the jewellery.
4.Display and packing materials.
Have to thank my stars for a very understanding and cooperative partner..my soul mate ..my husband.He did most of the search and we ended up in the Mahim Kumbharwada,where we got ready made sifted and smooth mud in bori's[sacks].There was no need to filter and sieve the coarse clay and wait for it to sediment and then drain n collect the fine mud..it was available ready made...what luck!I am not sure if its the same case in other cities of India.well it is in Mumbai :)
The person we bought the bori from,was ready to fire the material when they were ready.Ofcourse it came with a price tag..understandable .
Now we had to collect the materials needed to paint and string the beads.These things we got from the vast vast markets of Bhuleshwar,in Mumbai.
Now I was all set to get my first set of goods ready ...
 |
| A jhumka wannabe |
 |
| centre pieces |
.jpg) |
| beads |
 |
| a locket and studs |
 |
| elephant motif centre piece |
Now these had to be fired and painted before i would string them and package them according to sizes and sets.
I used metallic tinged acryllic paints.They gave a shimmer and shine to the end product.I am surely going to try the matt effect soon.
here are some of the end products..
 |
| peacock set with jhumka |
 |
| a beautiful magenta and bronze neck piece |
 |
| Black and silver Elephant necklace |
 |
| mustard and pink..excellent combination |
 |
| Red and black..traditional design |
 |
| burnt gold and red |
 |
| tender green and gold with a little black |
 |
| ear dangles on display |
