Lezo, the potters village

Short Description

Lezo is a small village on the shores of Aklan river. The deposits of red and white clay is the base of the village's small pottery business. This business has been developed under the Philippines OTOP project. OTOP means One Town - One Product. Lezo has a population of some 14'000 people. The potteries actually are all situated in Poblacion Bayangan Village.

Time and Distance

Lozo is only about 13km from Kalibo. there are direct jeepneys from Kalibo to Lezo (PHP 15). You may also ride to Numancia (8km) and catch there a jeepney to Lezo. In Lezo simply ask anybody for the potters village.

Equipment

None,

What to see

The whole village of Lezo is one big pottery. Take your time, so you can follow the making of "your pot" from the extraction of the raw clay on the river bank to the final clay-ware.

The potter's most basic tools are the hand, but many additional tools have been developed over the long history of pottery manufacture, including the potter's wheel and turntable, shaping tools, rolling tools, cutting/piercing tools and finishing tools .

In lezo you can see both methods handbuilding and potter's wheel. Some potters find handbuilding more conducive to fully using the imagination to create one-of-a-kind works of art. Handbuilding is manly used to form non-symetrical objects and sculptures.

The potter's wheel can be used for mass production, although often it is employed to make individual pieces. Wheel-work makes great demands on the skill of the potter, but an accomplished operator can make many near to identically similar plates, vases, or bowls in the course of a day's work. Because of its inherent limitations, wheel-work can only be used to create wares with radial symmetry on a vertical axis. These can then be altered by impressing, bulging, carving, fluting, faceting, incising, and by other methods making the wares more visually interesting. Often, thrown pieces are further modified by having handles, lids, feet, spouts, and other functional aspects added using the techniques of handworking.

Firing produces irreversible changes in the body. It is only after firing that the article can be called pottery. In lower-fired pottery the changes include sintering, the fusing together of coarser particles in the body at their points of contact with each other.
The atmosphere within a kiln during firing can affect the appearance of the finished wares. An oxidising atmosphere, produced by allowing air to enter the kiln, can cause the oxidation of clays and glazes. A reducing atmosphere, produced by limiting the flow of air into the kiln, can strip oxygen from the surface of clays and glazes. This can affect the appearance of the wares being fired and, for example, some glazes containing iron fire brown in an oxidising atmosphere, but green in a reducing atmosphere. The atmosphere within a kiln can be adjusted to produce complex effects in glaze. This is also why you cannot observe firing every day in Lezo. When the atmosperic humidity is to high, the raw products do not dry and therefore cannot be fired.

What to do

Follow with your eyes a pottery product from clay extraction to the final artistic object.
But if you like, you may try yourself. Ask a potter if you may form your own object. There will be lots of laughters when you sit down and start to form your own object. The potters will be helpful and will give you hints and show you tricks. This handwork cannot be accomplished in one day because your object has to dry before firing. So, fix the day, when you can come back for firing or pick up your object. It may take a week or so to dry the goods before firing.

Shopping

Think small! Clay pottery is heavy. Even a small pot weights 4 or 5kg. While domestic airlines bill only some pesos per kg overweight, international airlines bill USD 50 and more per kilogram for destinations in Europe or USA.

But there are enough smaller items you may buy. The prices are very low. A nice candlestick costs about PHP 60.

Costs

Jeepney is PHP 15 from Kalibo to Lezo.

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