WARNING: Mature audiences only! Graphic images ahead!!!!
We were downtown Granada, Nicaragua with time on our hands. Pottery museum, here we come! Both Jim and I love pottery. I learned to throw pots from Penny Nelson, Wolf Point High School Art Teacher extraordinaire , (back in the day). I still dream of creating splendid works of art in clay and paint. Until that day arrives, I enjoy others works and these were not your run of the mill pots!
New pot for sale. Colorful and dramatic.
Can you imagine the hours of careful labor invested here? I love the design.
Third eye blind?
MANY artifacts were on display, the careful collecting and cataloging done by an ever appreciative and forward thinking Dane.
LOTS of the artifacts had holes in the bottom. Carefully created holes, it appeared.
Each piece perched on it's own pedestal, wall to wall.
Each room, full. WHAT a treat!
Replicas and new creations alike, were offered for sale. Each more unique and odd than the one before.
Looks like it would be a nightmare to create!
Colors, shapes and textures to suit anyone.
Where tile inspiration comes from?
Room, after room, after room of POTS!
No end to the talent....
Naughty by nature? (There was much discussion about Nicaraguan sexuality in the historical research being a revered and natural part of human existence )
Heavy eyebrows were the first thing I noticed. But, once I spotted the breasts, it became clear it was the female form.
Labor of love.
What a face!
Pedros Prize.
Freestyle football?
Many ancient Nica buildings have a central, open air courtyard complete with vegetation and birds. The museum was no different. The shady lanai surrounding the courtyard was full of these huge oddly shaped pots. What were they? For water? Food storage?
Roof tile sheds rain water which sustains the succulents in the dry season. Note the tiny, more decorative pots against the wall?
All shapes and sizes.
Fortunately, a descriptive explanation (in English) was posted on the wall.
And once I discovered their use, I became even MORE fascinated.
Some were large, some were small, some had holes, some had inscriptions, some were plain, some were painted, some were cracked. But they all had one thing in common.
They were designed to hold the bones of loved ones. Teeny ones likely held only a child or maybe two. Huge ones could have held entire families for generations. The process was to bury the body until the flesh was gone and then the bones would be instilled in the family "pot". I wish I had asked more questions now!
Spineless cacti. (The good kind.)
Needlework project, not for the faint of heart. (Thanks Margina for giving it the "Vanna White" treatment!)
Colorful, detailed painting. (Doesn't it make you happy just looking at it?)
Even entrances, are artful.
The bigger picture. (Carved wooden doors, hand wrought iron....charming!)
Stay tuned, there is MUCH more to come...
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"Always do your best. What you plant now you will harvest later." - Og Mandino
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