The Revolution will be Ceramicised. : It's good to talk.

Mon 20 & 21^th Jan

So Monday it’s back to the town hall for the second week of the project. I feel confident that we will get ours completed on time as we really only have the background to do. We start by filling in the top of the section with grey/brown tiles. This is to join the top of our mushroom scene to the top line of the castle edge that goes around the entire length of the magic garden. Isidora has tried to use this edge to unify everyone’s work with the front entrance and create the look of a continuous castle wall around the building. Where our work joins Orlando’s section on the left we attempt to continue his swirly multi-coloured style of background.

Justyna Budzyn comes and ask me if she can have a couple of my tiles to put into her section. She explains that this is not a commissioned piece and that therefore she wants to express herself in this work. She takes a ‘Ten Esperanza’ and ‘Life is fragile’ tile. I am really pleased that my little ceramic messages are now spreading, and popping up in other sections of the magical garden.

At 5.30pm the first of 3 scheduled days of conference’s starts. The idea is that those who want to can give a short talk/slide show of their work. I, along with a few other artists have been asked to present a slightly longer prepared talk. Unfortunately there are the usual IT problems and of course it takes twice as long to give a talk that needs to be translated so not everyone gets to give their talks.

These conferences are incredibly important as it allows for us to share our skills and experience and gives us a chance to get to know a little more about each other. Of course not everyone could attend them all, many are just unable to spare the time from their mosaics. But I am lucky that I can watch them all.

Tuesday is pretty much more of the same. But the big excitement of the day is that the major news Channel for Chile, 13 News are coming to cover the project. The Mayor is there of course too and is filmed being interviewed a few places down from my mosaic’s. During this interview he speaks about this being an International exchange and that the artists are bringing a little of their own imagination, culture and self to this project. He says that the Chilean people must be open to the artist’s new and different visions. I think it is the officials that have more of a problem with some of the ideals and views expressed than the ‘people’. Afterwards I take my opportunity to speak with him about my censored skulls. My prepared script about them representing death and the ceramic babies heads life is never needed. The Mayor informs me straight away that it is now fine to express myself however I want too. I am not sure he fully appreciates what a renegade potter I am but continue my work happy in the knowledge that I now have his personal backing. Creative freedom has been achieved.

Apparently the wine bottle has got the go ahead too – the only request being it represents the local vineyard, a little bit of local product placement.