Process
Every Calleja Estudio piece holds a journey that is not visible at first glance: the earth that is chosen, the form that is sought, the skin it is given and the fire that seals it.
Material
The chosen earth
Everything begins before the form: clays blended until they become a body of their own, one that sometimes holds a trace of the landscape. A stone. A forgotten nail.
The earth of Tamajón
Form
Between the idea and the clay
A form is born in the mind and argued out with the hands. The clay yields, resists, suggests; the craft lies in winning that tug of war without taking away its character.
Surface
The skin of the piece
This is where the piece begins to speak: finishes, ashes and glazes prepared in the studio from the recipes of other masters. Ash decides part of the result: no piece repeats the skin of another.
Fire
What cannot be seen
Some 1,250 degrees turn clay into stone; what happens inside the kiln can only be sensed. At times, raku: the piece leaves the kiln red-hot, breathes smoke and cools in an instant.
