A weekend market will exhibit and sell clay platters, miniatures, planters and Christmas decorations by 22 studio potters
flowers by Sumathi Madhav
Miniatures of owls and penguins, house-shaped planters, Christmas decorations, appetiser platters, teapots and kulhads…this weekend, get your fix of all things clay at the Studio Potters Market.
The fourth edition of the market brings together 22 studio (artistes doing it on a small scale) potters and gives them space to sell their creations. "We started off with the aim to promote ceramics as an art form. Many studio potters work out of their homes and don’t have an outlet to display or sell their wares," says Sumathi Madhav, a potter who sells her products under the label, CrEarth-Creations in Earth.
A decor piece by Parveen Kaur Thakur
Madhav is part of a group of 15 city potters who started this event four years back. They try and bring in ten new potters every year. On display will be different styles of pottery and a variety of products — utility items, home décor and miniatures. "Typically, people imagine that pottery is only about creating products using the wheel. But we build our products by hand and they’re not limited to just pots," she adds. Madhav will display her nature-inspired handpainted appetiser platters, bowls and ceramic flowers.
Other works to look out for at the event include Veena Singh’s Nerikomi and Neriage (a Japanese decorative process) products, tea pots and mugs by Tejashree Sagvekar, and terracotta and stoneware clay vases from Manasvi Mhatre. Through the day, there will also be demos and workshops at a potter’s wheel, which will be conducted by production potter Srikant Pardeshi.
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Clay menagerie: One of the most popular potters at the earlier markets is Ajay Abhyankar, a software engineer who dabbles with clay on the weekends. Abhyankar is known for his miniatures — birds and animals and for this edition, he has created Christmas decorations like snowmen and pine trees.
Ajay Abhyankar
"I’ve always loved working with clay but it was only after a visit to Prague a few years back, and seeing the wonderful products available there, that I decided to pursue this hobby," says Abhyankar, who learnt pottery at a course and since then, has been practising on his own. He uses earthenware clay, which functions at a lower temperature than normal clay, and a low-temperature glaze. The clay is sourced from a local potter, and he gets the colours from abroad.
Ajay Abhyankar’s miniature Christmas figurines
Home experiments: Potter Sultana Khan’s home is her clay lab. There, she experiments with different firing methods to create interesting and unusual designs; she even makes her own glaze. "I get bored of doing the same designs repeatedly, so I like creating new products," she says. 
Sultana Khan
Khan retails her work under her label Enigma ("clay is an enigma to me, there’s so much you can do with it") and also
conducts pottery workshops across India. This weekend, at her stall, she will sell house-shaped planters, tall vases with geometric prints, bottles and small figurines. "I like working on sculptural forms, which are challenging," she adds.
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