Dori and you | Aastha Sahal
The art of making things by hand always fascinated me. Even though my work involves making things everyday, nothing had prepared me to the connection of clay, hands and the mind.
When I signed up for pottery, there were many feelings involved. Questioning If I will be good at it, If it is something that I will like when I get to actually do it and it proved to be more than anything I could have hoped for. Through this I found a quiet, calm guide who is taking me through the world of pottery. Aastha Sahal, a potter, instructor and designer. she is calm and an extremely kind instructor at Claystation, Bangalore.
Aastha chose to study ceramics and glass in IICD by happenstance. Her curiosity led her to ceramics and took it up with a warm thought of how she loved ‘Gili mitti ki Khushboo’. She then went on to do a course in Golden Bridge, Pondicherry.
Growing up in Jaipur, craft has been a major part of her life. There are lanes named after each craft in Jaipur but the craft is so blended with everyday living that she didn’t really absorb and understand what it involved until she started working with artisans.
In class, she keeps reminding us that each one of us have our own pace of learning and we shouldn’t be too hard on ourselves. This constant assurance really helps when you are struggling to centre the clay even after 4 weeks of trying to get it right.
Her stories of struggle and slow learning, though hard to believe If you see how beautiful it is to see her on the wheel, inspires us and keeps us going. She says her biggest learning working with this medium has been patience and detachment to the products that you make and I am just so glad she is passing that wisdom.
The new collection - Earth song, has been inspired by my learnings of working with clay and Aastha has played a huge role in this journey and having her wear the dress from the collection only make it a happy full circle moment.
Aastha is wearing the Grey swing dress
Photographs by Arvind Sridhar
Featuring Aastha Sahal
