Hands of the Potters

By NYX MARTINEZ

From the time they first came into contact with the earth’s elements, our ancestors would experiment with clay. It was as simple as mixing the dry earth with water to make it malleable, then hardening it in the sun. They crafted jars, pots or bowls; sometimes functional, sometimes decorative. Nowadays, the process hasn’t changed much. Pottery still takes patience. There’s no cheating here, no tinkering with digital tools, no shortcuts. It is pure craftsmanship in the hands of the potters.

In the Philippines, contemporary pottery looks to Jon and Tessy Pettyjohn, a couple who pioneered this art in the 70s—a time when more focus was given to the country’s younger artisans. Jon, who was born in Okinawa, studied ceramics in Escuela Masana, Barcelona for six years, then came to the Philippines, his mother’s native land. “In the beginning,” he recalls, “I put my work into a suitcase and walked around a gallery to show people my stuff.”

In the Pettyjohns’ recent exhibit at Celestina, Greenbelt 5, they featured pieces from their various collections: “Blossom,“ “Five elements,“ “Sentinel,“ and other functional pieces such as the Oribe glazed tea set.

The young potter was just 25 years old, and no local stores sold clay. So Jon found himself heading to Bicol and Iloilo to get earth straight from the ground. They also experimented with volcanic ash for their innovations. The end result was more than satisfactory.

“It’s the greatest thing in the world, especially if you have the experience of actually digging the clay. It comes straight from the ground, so we have to process it. We built our own kilns. “We are self-sufficient,” he says proudly. “We work at very high temperatures, so it produces a very earthy range of color.”

Jon met Tessy during his first exhibit in 1978. Both shared the same love for pottery. Years later, they’re still at it, with their home studios in Laguna. Originally a student at the UP College of Fine Arts, Tessy talks about the old days: “We had a big bathtub to mix the clay. We would go in there and mix it with our feet.” Jon smiles at how the 1990 Hollywood movie Ghost helped raise awareness about pottery. In this film, Demi Moore’s character has an erotic encounter with her slain lover, played by Patrick Swayze in a pottery.

Jon and Tessy were eventually able to set up the Putik Association of Philippine Potters, to encourage ceramic art locally (putik is the Filipino word for mud). They held workshops to focus on using Philippine materials.

The Pettyjohns aren’t near tired yet. “We will just do whatever comes,” reckons Tessy, “I don’t think you ever retire in pottery.”

“You just keep getting better and better,” adds her husband. “We are proof that, if you keep at something long enough, eventually people will notice you.”