A tryst with terracotta

Kavita’s tryst with the paint and brush began when she was a little girl. She was fascinated by the different colours and soon began crafting the most unique and delicate pieces of jewellery.

She soon discovered a love for terracotta jewellery. She started through trial and error and soon went on to do a course in the art.

Though she is a mathematics teacher by profession, she takes time out for her passion too. She started practising the art in 2005 and spends at least four to seven hours a day making tiny, colourful accessories and neck pieces.

Though the entire process involves a lot of time and effort, she enjoys it. From sourcing and choosing the raw materials in bulk to making the final product, she describes  the entire process as a “wonderful journey”.

   She begins by filtering the rough soil. Once the soft clay is left, she concentrates on the ‘slab and cut work’ and later, she carefully decorates and places the right number of beads, danglers and pendants. “It’s important to buy the right materials. I have to look for items that are available at reasonable rates and are of good quality,” she says. 

Apart from the labour involved, she also spends time innovating new colours, designs, researching and looking for some new trends in the market.   

    She describes the hobby as more than just a past-time and feels that one needs time and patience to keep this interest alive.

“People shouldn’t be in a hurry to finish this and have to handle delicate items with care. A lot of patience is required. None of the items should break when they are being placed and there should be no smudging while painting too,” she states. She further adds, “In the beginning, it is tough to concentrate on the finer details but everything becomes easy with practice.”

Looks like art runs in the family as her sister too makes jewellery pieces with as much dedication and passion. 

  Kavita’s works have received a lot of praise and many people have even asked her to teach them the art jewellery making.

 She also reworks and redesigns a lot of items given to her by friends. Though she feels that terracotta jewellery is popular with youngsters, a lot of people don’t take to as a hobby due to the lack of time.

She doesn’t term any of her creations as her favourite as she feels every piece has scope for improvement. Hence, she attempts to make every new piece better than the previous one.

 Juggling between family and chasing her hobby, she says that she makes jewellery pieces only in her son’s absence! 

It’s her strong willpower that keeps her going. “The process right from scratch is very difficult — either to get a fine cut or decorating the finished piece but finally, it’s nice to see a colourful, hand-worked accessory created from ‘raw earth’. As they say, the best view is after the hardest climb.”

 When asked whether she would like to pass on the hobby to her son, she laughs, “My son is quite small and is not interested in it right now. But my niece likes this a lot.”