"In order to understand an art you have to study its roots. That is the reason why, on numerous occasions, I travelled to Thrapsano of Heraklion Crete, the “centre” of pottery from the ancient times. I also went to Margarites of Rethymnon where I had the chance to study under Nicholaos Kavgalakis, also known as Mastrokavgalakis, a great craftsman and a good man willing to talk to me. Others don't answer questions fully. I was trained to Charokopio, Vounaria and Compoi of Koroni, under George Aggelopoulos. There they make jars using only local soil and in a completely primitive way. They don't even use a wheel. The jar doesn’t spin around in front of them, the craftsmen go around it”.

He rejected technology

The jar maker John Stagkides, from Paliampela of Pieria, always had an inclination towards the arts. His grades were not very good in traditional subjects, but he got straight A’s in art. His teachers used to say: Why are you trying to make sense of numbers and letters, just give into creativity. John caught between his day job and his creative self, and struggled financially. But he never abandoned his art. "My wife accepted my wishes and I did the same for her. We both are frugal and against overconsumption. We live abstractly and not additively. Instead of more and bigger things we look for less and smaller".

On his way back from Crete, John started to look for jar soil. After adventures on four mountains -Olympus, Pieria, Vermio and Paiko- he found the right kind of soil and built his own traditional furnace. "It was mostly unsuccessful, because I had gathered contradictory information from the old masters, who had the knowledge but not the skills to pass it on. I started systematically visiting archaeological places and observing the ancient furnaces in order to answer my questions. I had to build five more furnaces until I felt that I knew something about the issue".

The ancient Greeks made round furnaces, not rectangular, in specific ratios. The combustion spacde was not under the furnace but further away and the heat was transferred with a tailpipe. That way, they had better control and the baking was gradual not abrupt. "In Crete, no jar maker has ever searched for answers, because they use the same furnaces from the Minoan times until today. However, there is no tradition here and so I lost some time until I understood the expertise achieved over the ages".
John understood that the ancient Greeks led ceramics to its peak. Furnaces, clay, colours and technique haven’t changed and pottery hasn’t progressed much since antiquity. In 1997 he was sponsored by the Leader program and bought some modern technologies that proved to be almost useless, since he found that he would have done a better job without them.

He detests work-hours

John enjoys sweating, that is why he works hard from the beginnings of April until the end of September, while the weather is still hot. He digs, unloads and mashes the materials alone. "While during the winter I weigh 86 kgs, at the end of summer I weigh 77, without even going to the gym. My grandfather, who died in his 90s, used to say: If you leave your body it will leave you too". John's health booklet is empty; he has never even taken a single aspirin. If all men were like him, the doctors wouldn’t have been needed. He lives in harmony with his art and his family and does not understand what people mean when they say "I'm not feeling well".

When he's bored of clay he occupies himself with his garden, planting everything he needs, he never buys anything from the market. "I attempted to work in work-hours; I used to teach pottery in a rehabilitation centre. I soon realized that the eight-hour shift is for the public servants, not for me. I consciously threw my wrist watch in Thermaikos Bay and I don't own a cell phone. Every year I sit down and set my financial targets. I estimate how much money I need to make and try to decrease it every year ".

Other people also make clay whistles, although the hardly make any sound at all. John is a genuine idealist, who makes decisions upon time management having qualitative rather than economic criteria. That's why he goes to archaeological excavations, in order to comprehend the ancient style. This is why it takes him several days to make a whistle that really hisses. For the same reason he makes hulls too, without any trace of lead or cadmium in their glazes. "I adore the baby goat cooked in the hull with potatoes", he says.
TEXT-PHOTOS: GEORGE ZAFEIROPOULOS
SOURCE: www.greecewithin.com

MORE PHOTOS

He also makes clay sculptures of a great artistic value.

He gives advice to some archaeologists working in Pieria.

He decorates his house with jars.

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