Recycling the Chorotega

With the new skills I learned recently from Michael Dupille, I am reinterpreting the local Chorotega pottery, made by the people indigenous to this part of Costa Rica.

The families are still working at Guaitil and San Vicente to create traditional designs which are highly patterned and usually symmetrical.  Often they have iconic animal figures in the center.

I start by making new sheets of glass, using broken wine and beer bottles.  I’m still working out the firing schedule, hoping to get the glass more transparent.

Then I add my interpretations of the Chorotega designs, using Michael’s “Scratch and Frit” method with glass paste and frit.

It’s time consuming and labor intensive.  It gets fired several times.  But the glass is free and I have the gift of time.

I’m thinking of slumping these into shallow plates, which will help the light pass through. What do you think?

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