For years, this pottery workshop has been a tourist attraction in Naivasha, drawing buyers of ceramic utensils and flower pots with intricate details.
The neatly arranged clay products include coffee mugs, jugs and bowls.
About 10 kilometres from Naivasha is a little-known workshop that exhibits perhaps the most striking pottery chemistry in this tourist town.
Fired Earth is located in a beautiful canopy of woodsy trees in a big farm that was once owned by a white settler. The place is quiet and the silence is only interrupted by the birds chirping or a troop of baboons swinging on trees.
For years, this pottery workshop has been a tourist attraction in Naivasha, drawing buyers of ceramic utensils and flower pots with intricate details.
The neatly arranged clay products include coffee mugs, jugs and bowls.
They also make tea pots, sugar dishes, spoons, cooking pots, wine cups, bulb holders to candle holders shaped like flamingo birds.
“I started the workshop in 2007 after doing pottery and working for Larry Outon, an American for seven years,” says Obadiah Kiragu who is now immersed in the aesthetics and craft of pottery.
His deep understanding of the pottery is laid bare as he discusses his relationship with fire and clay.
“I love making things from burnt clay and turning them into beautiful and colourful pots and other creative designs,’’ he says.
To make these beautiful items, he first soaks the clay for days in water to soften it. He then removes particles and mixes it with chemicals such as kaoline. The pot-making process starts by waging which is removing the remaining hard particles and air by rolling it on a wooden table.
At the potters’ wheel, he sprinkles some water on the clay to make it soft and shape it. The moulded clay is put on a shed as it changes colour to dark grey before it is dried on the sun for two to three days.
The dry pot is then heated in spinning kiln. The pot is then taken to Andrew Mureithi, an artist who glazes it.
He then draws flowers and other decorations which include animals such as ladybirds, African Hoopoe, American Robin and insects such as crickets, dragonfly and fish eagle.
“The paints we use are non-toxic and heated at more than 1,000 degrees Celsius so that it can be effective and gives the pot a perfect shape and colour,” says Mr Mureithi.
The pot is then taken to the second round and final firing at high temperatures to ensure it is smooth.
The final products are sold at a small shop next to the workshop while those with defects are returned to the spinning kiln.
“We make sure we get the perfect product,” says Felix Rono who is a potter, adding that most of their customers are local and international tourists.
The workshop also offers pottery lessons to children, adults and tourists.
“It is interesting mostly to children who are potential artists and potters as they make their own designs and test their creativity at a tender age,” says Rono.
“Children should not spend all their time on TV screens and parents should strive to engage their minds with pottery lessons during holidays, even if they are on vacation,” adds Obadiah.
Buyers are not restricted to particular designs as one can come with their own unique decorations to be painted on a ceramic item.
“At Fired Earth, you can buy a tea or coffee mug or any usable clay ware decorated with your own designs,” said Obadiah.
