We spotted a pottery place on the road to Mampong while traveling on Sunday, so decided to check it out. Down the road a ways there is a "Wood Carvers Village" and we had to check it out, in town there is a "Cultural Center" that we had to check out also. I hate to shop! There are street vendors everywhere that swoop on us like fly's when we get out of the car, and they all have the best and lowest price. RIGHT
Here are some pics from a days shopping in Kumasi Africa.
So, on our way to the forum, here on the side of the road is a load of "Dugout Canoes"
I guess they are for large natives.
I would like to see the finished product. These are only rough cut.
Back to shopping...the pottery place. These two women were
pretty fun to deal with. And they like there snaps taken.
This is Paul, and he is an "Adinkra" stamper???
I know...what is Adinkra? They are symbols that have meaning
or represent sayings.
Here are some of his "Home Carved" stamps.
A quick dip, and here is your stamp.
This symbol means "Gye Nyame" (except God)
the Omnipotence and Immortality of God
It's definitely one of the most popular.
Grinding special bark to make the ink
Soaking the bark in water
Cooking it down to the right consistency.
Now that is just right
Some of his stamp work.
Where did this come from??? Oh that's right, he is Kenyon...
Wood Carvers Villiage
And guess what....you got it...a wood carver.
I'm surprised he has all of his fingers after watching for a few minutes.
Oops there goes another rubber tree
Cool patterns created by blowing the ink.
This is KingNuri, one of the carvers that we like.
He is not pushy, so he gets our business.
These are...you guessed it....what I majored in at High School.
We had a long talk comparing African and Western technique.
He is making a lamp shade. Pretty Cool.
Working on a rather large drum.
Drying skins for the drums
Drums in process
Drum tuner.
Oh...little brass things.
First you make each little, or big, thing out of wax.
coat it with an ash / clay mixture, let it dry, put it in a fire and
melt out the wax, then fill it with brass.
The end result is a little, or big, brass thing that looks
exactly like the little, or big, wax thing.
Melting brass to pour in the little, or big, mold.
"Where the wax use to be"
Some large kilns for doing pottery.
Pottery...no one was around. I was wondering if they were the
ladies that were out on the street.
A Calabash tree. It produces the large gords that are used for all sorts of things.
A Calabash bud
Some Itty Bitty calabash babies.
This picture is for Tim...We had a plumber come to fix our sink.
He is above "Journeyman", notice there was not a fire on the floor
I thought someone lost an earring or something, but this is
the real thing...I can hardly believe the colors.
This one is for the Hornes.
This guy has very low overhead in his yard service.
Portable lawnmower, boots and a few machetes. Take note.
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