The life and soul of ceramics
- Elsa continues a family tradition
- She creates her pieces with passion
- Her works of art recount real life stories
Elsa Rebelo was destined to become a ceramicist. She grew up surrounded by ceramics: her home town Caldas da Rainha is a Portuguese city with a long ceramics history, her father was a ceramic sculptor who owned a ceramics manufacturer where Elsa spent her time during school holidays. She fondly remembers the hustle and bustle of the women preparing clay and piggy banks the shape of dogs with long ears. At eight years old she created her first piece: a candle holder with ceramic roses. Her passion for handmade ceramic techniques grew as she studied and perfected them with local masters. Her contemporary pieces tell narratives, based on real life experiences and encounters.
INTERVIEW
That my pieces tell a story and that I don’t have total control. I start in a traditional way, then mid way I search for my own language and my pieces find their own expression. I love to feel the clay, prepare the pigments and the suspense of the firing.
How to give shape with the potter’s wheel. They taught me the typical pottery forms from Caldas which are demanding for apprentices. I also learnt decorative techniques and manual painting with ceramic materials with other teachers and artists.
When I received the “Female Personality 2011” award in the Plastic Arts category. It was organized by LUX magazine to recognize talent and entrepreneurship of Portuguese women. As my work is solitary, I felt encouraged to pursue my path as an artist.
Perhaps the techniques using the potter’s wheel as they require persistence and effort to knead, turn and push the clay. I taught for ten years and used to tell my students the importance of getting the gestures right; some strong and precise, others light and delicate.
