Lemba Pottery

Another fascination of mine, especially when it comes to process, aesthetics and artistic creativity, is ceramics. One of my favorite places I have gone so far is the Lemba Pottery workshop just outside Paphos, Cyprus. George Georgiades and his wife Soteroulla are master potters influenced by their natural surroundings. Situated within sight of the Mediterranean coast, the little shop displays an arrangement of unique and breathtaking pieces that often wear slips with sea-like hues.

Fyti and Traditional Weaving in Cyprus

Fyti Village Square. The hand mill in the foreground is part of an old wedding ceremony tradition - the bride and groom would push the wheel together, joined by their family and relatives.

Something about textiles continues to captivate my attention - whether the complicated process of production, the textures of the materials, the amount of time, energy and thought the practice consumes - everything. It is no wonder then that within my first week of Cyprus I would be visiting a weaving museum.

In the little village of Fyti, on the side of a mountain with long, narrow windy streets, there is a weaving museum well worth a visit. Fyti's weaving practices date back to medieval times and are well known for their bright and vivid colors, as well as complex designs, woven with homemade silk.

The sweet woman who runs the museum directly contributes to its contents. She is the fourth generation of Cypriot weavers and her grandmother was a refugee from the Cyprian east coast during Turkish invasion.