CHUCK LOVES POTTERY TOO

Our main objective in going to Loja was for Chuck to purchase large pots at the University (Universidad Tecnica Particular de Loja). The campus is located up on a hill, with a beautiful view of Loja in the valley. To learn more about this pottery and the University, visit their website: http://www.cerart.com.ec/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=9&Itemid=13

They have a fancy show room of dinner ware.


And, behind this show room was a HUGE warehouse-like showroom.


The choices were quite overwhelming.

This is the type of pottery Chuck was after.


Here are some of his being wrapped.

The wrapping process was amazing, and took several hours. The man helping us made sure that nothing would be broken on the way home.

Beyond this huge showroom was the production room where they actually make the pottery. The orange in the far right of this photo is the kiln.

Bananas, anyone?
Greenware waiting to be glazed.

I'm not exactly sure what these are for but I think it has something to do with the processing of the clay.
Upstairs, Nancy and I found another show room, almost like a gallery.

Yapacuchi is a Quechua word meaning "to give more." This ceramic style uses clays from all geographical areas in Ecuador and the designs are painted on with a paintbrush.


Nukanchik means "ours" in Quechua and this is the style of pottery that Chuck purchased. The decor is done by scratching the design in the clay. The designs are primarily pre-columbian.

As you can see, these pieces are very beautiful and it is a good thing I am limited by my suitcase.

We barely fit all of our boxes in the pickup bed, but we made it, and tied our load on so it wouldn't bounce out when the pavement gave out.


We were some very happy campers coming home to Cuenca, anxious to play with our pottery.

Still to come - Vilcabamba and lush scenery.

Audrey