From time to time under the Local News section we will bring you different features about life in Kalkan.

Here is the fourth article in a short series we intend to do called Hand Made in Kalkan.  We are taking a short summer break before continuing with this series.

In this article we take a look at the process of transforming a piece of clay into colourful, ceramic works of art. 

We spent some time with Nurettin Semerci, of Nural Ceramics, on Hasan Altan Caddesi.

History of designs
The Nural Seramik workshop and retail outlet has a variety of ceramic styles on offer, however it specialises in traditional Iznik designs.  The Wikepedia website has a comprehensive page on Iznik ceramics.  If you want to read more, please click here.

History of Nural Seramik
Nurettin and his family come from Kütahya, midway between Izmir and Ankara, which has a long association with Iznik pottery production.  He first learned his trade as a young man when he went into partnership with an associate in Kütahya - effectively serving his apprenticeship.

He then went on to form his own family business in Kütahya, passing on his skills to other family members, including his daughter Vildan, who can often be seen now at the shop in Kalkan, painting the intricate traditional designs. 

The business was built up to a level where over 70 people were employed.  However the economic crisis suffered by Turkey in the early 90s hit the business hard, and by the mid 90s Nurettin had reverted back to a smaller family run business.

The main Nural Seramik workshop remains in Kütahya, but since 1995 the principal retail outlet has been in Kalkan. 

The blank 'biscuits'
Nurettin sources the blank ceramic pieces, which he calls 'biscuits', from the Kütahya area.  The unique composition of sand and clay found in that area makes it the perfect meduim for pottery.  The basic designs, some of which date back 500 years, are applied to the blanks using a black inky paint.  See below.

Painting on the colours
Then various members of the family will add the colours, by hand, with a fine brush, using painting techniques that have not changed for generations.  The paints are usually applied in a specific order.  For the tiles created for KTLN it was dark blue first, then red and finally turquoise.

It needs a steady hand, concentration and attention to detail.  A special paint is used, which will withstand the heat of an oven - up to 1,200 degrees Farenheit.  It is important that the paint colours are consistent for any batch of pottery being produced, so the paint mixture is constantly stirred during the painting process to ensure that the water based mixture does not separate.  Nurettin starts painting - see below.

Vildan (below) finishes the painting.

Applying the glaze
Once the paint is dry the glaze is applied.  Nurettin tells us this is soft glaze.  They make it in large quantities back in Kütahya, but for our piece he makes up a small quantity in his rooftop kitchen at home.  The pieces are fully coated in glaze, then as it begins to dry Nurettin trims off any excess.  It is then ready for the oven.

Into the oven
Most pieces are created in Kütahya, however Nural Seramik do have an oven in their shop so that they can do bespoke items, such as villa name plaques.  With electricity being so expensive, in order to keep costs down, they try to schedule a number of pieces to go into the oven at the same time, and they use the cheapest tariff - after 10pm. 

Pieces are stacked in the oven, leaving sufficient space around each item so that they have the 925c heat applied evenly.  The following day the oven is opened and the pieces are allowed to cool.

Nurettin delivered our ceramic tiles and fixed them to the villa wall - see below.  Job done, he returned to his shop on Hasan Altan Caddesi, which has shelf after shelf of these amazing ceramic works of art.  In Nurettin's shop you can see the culmination of a tradition that celebrates the harmony of clay, art and fire.

 KTLN would like to point out that there are other shops in Kalkan that make ceramic works of art.  You can find their details in the KTLN Business Directory.