Back in September of 2014, Jennie and Paul Christensen joined Telunas Resorts. Jennie was directing school group programs and Paul was hired as an artist in residence, among other things. Paul suggested that pottery might be a good fit for the resort, both as a guest activity and as a source of unique souvenirs. Locals identified several locations where good clay existed, and Paul built a small test kiln.
The Manabigama
In March 2015, Paul, Supriyadi, Yan, and other staff members built a full kiln. The design is called a manabigama, which means "beautiful learning kiln." It holds about 150 to 200 pieces at a time. Typically it takes about 25 hours of stoking the wood and 2 cubic meters of firewood to reach stoneware temperatures.
Adding Value with Local Materials
One of the greatest things about the pottery is that it uses local materials. When you pick up a piece, you are literally picking up a piece of Sugi Island, clay from Semokol Point, wood ash from building and landscaping scraps from the resort. The pottery studio is something that helps to differentiate Telunas from other resorts in the region. We are the only resort in the area that has one.
