I am Ernest and have been living with pottery for nine years. The road to pottery was bumpy and winding.
It was almost my 30th birthday. The family started asking what presents I would like to receive. At the time, Vilius, my current husband, and I were back from England, having had a taste of work in a factory, able to save some money.
It seemed that I had everything I need, didn’t want anything specific. I started thinking that maybe I should learn something new.
The first thought was learning a foreign language. But then Vilius mentioned that the language would have to be used. So, we started discussing that maybe I should learn some craft. I always really liked paper, interesting book covers and all kinds of notebooks. I don’t remember how, but ceramics also came to mind. I already had colourful, unmatching dishes in the dorm, I really liked that diversity and the brightness!
I mentioned pottery to a friend, to which she said: “A good friend of mine is a pottery teacher, she could teach you!” I contacted her, but we postponed her lessons because of her busy schedule. At the time, I was helping my sister raise her twins; we were moving into my current house, and I had other things to do.
The time has come when my sister no longer needed help and I was about to accept a job in a small company after a few trial days. I needed to decide what to do next.
Vilius and I decided to dive into the unknown with pottery, and see what would happen. The pottery teacher Lolita taught me the basics of work with clay and glaze, and helped fire the first ceramic pieces. When I needed to glaze the first dish, I immediately chose bright colours: red and blue, and yellow dots. It came out very nicely, which really fascinated me.
From my second lesson I had no doubt left even for a second . I knew that I would succeed. I saw it would take an awful lot to learn, but it didn’t scare me. When my teacher Lolita left Lithuania for good and I was left with a list of glazes and an address where I could buy different kinds of clay. That’s all. I also needed to buy a kiln.
Until the kiln arrived, I was moulding, trying things, not knowing what to make and feeling sad. I also tried bookbinding, but it didn’t stick. Everything changed with the delivery of the kiln. The process gained momentum, and I was falling in love with clay more and more!
