By: Erin Brooks
The Khmer Ceramics Center is a wonderful place to visit if you have kids or are interested in art! When you first arrive you head into the beautiful gift shop filled with items made at the center. The shop is full of handmade items thrown on the wheel or hand carved from detailed molds. The idea is to look around for inspiration and then pick out the designs that you are most interested in making. The choices are divided into two categories, wheel work and hand-carving. But no need to worry if you can’t immediately decide as the Khmer Ceramics Center class allows you to work in both mediums and then decide what you like best at the end. Some of the choices that present themselves to be made are hand-carved elephant incense oil burners, small bowls or vases and salt and pepper shakers. Immediately after you pay your $15 for two hours of ceramics fun, you are presented with a free gift. The gift is a small ceramic elephant made from one of their molds. It makes a great souvenir before you even get a chance to make your own.
I have been to the Khmer ceramics center at least five times and still love it. As Callie’s private tutor we made time every Wednesday for field trips. Like many five year olds, Callie has a limited attention span, but she could not get enough of ceramics. Andrea and I immediately recognized how calm and focused Callie was and how proud she was of her completed work, so we decided to keep bringing Callie to the center until she tired of it. That never happened; in fact she took Brandon’s parents, her Nana and Grandpa, just a week ago.
The Khmer Ceramics Center seems to have a no-fail approach. You could begin work on the wheel or at the hand-carving station. On the wheel there is a staff member that guides your progress and offers suggestions based on what you want the final product to be. They allow you to create 3-4 items on the wheel before you make your way to the hand-carving table. At this station there are multiple molds available to make, and again, wonderful staff to assist. You are shown how to press wet clay into the molds to create unique works of art, or you can use the semi-dry, pre-molded clay to perfect your hand carving techniques. At the end of the session you are allowed to pick one item that you made, either from the wheel or a hand carving, and have it glazed and fired in the kiln. The choices are either a green or blue glaze and the final product is hand delivered 24 hours later to your hotel.
One of my favorite things about the Khmer ceramics Center is the people who work there. Once I inquired about getting a cup of coffee nearby and instead the owner offered to make me a fresh pot and brought it out to me. The location is perfect as the Angkor National Museum is directly across the street and there are plenty of restaurants and cafes nearby. I highly recommend the Khmer Ceramics Center because it offers a great opportunity to collaborate with Khmer ceramic artists and create an individual piece of art that will last a lifetime (as long as it doesn’t break in your suitcase!).