Robert & Monika Jehn-Olszewscy

Sharing their love for ceramics

• Robert began his ceramics career in his father’s tile workshop
• He mixes modern design with traditional wheel-throwing
• His wife Monika created a bird figurine collection

When he was a boy Robert Jehn-Olszewscy would play among the furnaces at his father's ceramic tile workshop, having fun pretending he was Bruce Lee punching piles of broken ceramic tiles. So there was little doubt he would later become a ceramicist himself. As a student in 1993 he continued working independently in his father’s workshop. Then he met Monika, when they both studied at the Warsaw University of Technology. Monika fell in love with Robert and ceramics at the same time. "We used to admire traditional folk craft," explains Robert. "What we observed is that in a pottery workshop there’s always family working together. That’s what we like most – just the two of us, working with our own hands."

Interview

©Robert Jehn-Olszewski

©Robert Jehn-Olszewski

Did you learn from any masters?

Robert: After my diploma in inorganic technology and ceramics I visited a pottery workshop in Podlasie, in the east of Poland. Two pottery masters, the Piechowscy brothers, showed me their craft. I adopted not only their technique but also their work style.

Monika, how did you come to make your bird figurines?

Monika: Everything about clay I learned from Robert. One time we made ceramic Easter eggs, which Robert threw on the wheel. I took the egg and added a small tail, head and beak. That’s how the first figurine emerged, a kingfisher. Now, the whole collection consists of 30 handmade glazed birds.

What don't people realise about your work?

R: Twice a year we take part in open air art fairs where we do pottery shows. People keep asking us if they can take a raw product and bake it at home. However, the most important process is firing because it requires a high temperature that cannot be obtained in the kitchen stove.

Has there been a particularly satisfying moment in your career?

M: We got a nice order from the municipality of Krakow to prepare pigeon figurines for the World Youth Days 2016. While Pope Francis was in Krakow he was offered several souvenirs to choose from, and he selected our handcrafted pigeons as the best gifts for his Vatican associates.

Robert & Monika Jehn-Olszewscy are s: they began their career in

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