I had a wonderful time last summer at ‘Mae Pun Din, Po Tum Suan” In English that translates as ‘Mom enjoys clay works while Dad prefers working in the garden”. Their Thai traditional Lanna Style house is located in Mae Rim, only 30 minutes drive from the city of Chiangmai.

As soon as you step into the front gate you find a luxuriant growth of plants and trees around the house. Mom ‘s work is displayed all over the garden. Under the shade of big trees, various types of plants with different hues of green makes many animal figurines - smiley piggy, dancing elephants or funny woman’s face, stand out more prominently.

Shaded by some very large trees are two buildings of two-storey Thai Lanna style houses; the tranquil atmosphere is completely differs from the congested and noisy little town outside. On the upper floor of the front house are antique utensils and musical instruments, illustrating the local Thai intellectual property. A compartment with two big bedrooms is located at another end of the building and the veranda, which is partially covered with fragrant climbing plants makes the place very private, hidden from outsiders. Cool! I said to myself. I like almost all kinds of trees, especially the fragrant ones of which their aroma spread the charm of the house in the night while the night cool breeze passing by.

After lunch, Mom demonstrated how clay work is made. The area on the ground floor of main teak house is open for Mom’s showcase where one corner of 2 x 4 meters. was partitioned by mosquito screen’s enclosure for workroom. I can’t help laughing when I saw the tool that Mom used as a revolving stand. It is an exercise disc, which is especially popular with women who want to reduce their waist. Got it? What a smart idea!

Mom told me to make a long rounded line of clay about one feet long and half inch thick then circled it as based of that work. This is the primary basic step for whatever you want to build. I gradually making the long rounded line one after another, patting and rubbing lightly to smoothen layers of lines, developing a shape of my favorite animal. I created a figurine of an elephant who enjoys reading a comic book while laughing. When I finished the body with the big head, I put on another piece of clay for his big ears and long nose. After that, I smoothened my figurine tightly to make sure that the new pieces would be in good shape after baking.

After hours of practicing in the studio, I started wondering if the mosquito screen was there to prevent the ‘students’ from the mosquitoes or to put students into the mosquitoes’ home. When darkness came and the mosquitoes came through some holes in the screen and attacked me, I knew it was time for to quit and prepare for dinner. That night I couldn’t sleep because of the ‘gecko’ in my room kept trying to talk to me. I guess, the little creature knew that I was on my own and wanted to be my friend. yeah…thank you, but you know what, that little lizard frightened me instead, strange that I didn’t see any gecko in clay but I promise I won’t make it.

Next morning, I continued with my cute little elephant and a few more figurines of Mr. Smiley, the frog, little Turtle, etc. Mom said that everybody’s artwork would be air dried for a few weeks, then fired and returned back to us so we could keep them as memoirs.

The workshop was a great experience ; not only was I able to let my creative juices flow but the whole experiences helped me recharge my battery in order to face the tough working days ahead. I will go back some day to collect my works.