Ancient Ecuadorian Amazon Forest Clay Teachings with Seikopaai leader, Yadira.

Seikopaai leader, Yadira Ocoguaje, shared deeply meaningful stories, and moving songs with us during a beautiful workshop at Gasworks in Brooklyn, NYC.

The special workshop taught us the important ancient relationship about land and clay. Especially to indigenous cultures, specifically the Seikopaai in ancient Ecuadorian Amazon Rainforest.

Yadira shared traditional hand building techniques, harvesting clay from the land, natural pigments from the earth.

She painted each of our faces using a natural red pigment from seed pods native to her ancestral land in the Ecuadorian Rainforest. She shared clay harvested from a special lagoon by her home, and natural pigments. She taught us how to create our own vessels sharing ancient techniques and how to make our own brushes using our own sacred hair.

Unfortunately, I was bed bound with the flu on the scheduled day where we would burnish and paint our pieces before the special low-firing. I did not want to risk the health of others, nor my own. I am grateful to have been able to fire it as-is, and am looking forward to picking up my work.

What a gift to be able to share space with such an amazing leader.

Clay is so much more than mud.