The feeling of being free
Elias and I meet Idun Storrud at her pottery workshop in Milea, a beautiful Greek mountain village in Mani. Idun offers Scandinavian brewed coffee and Norwegian cakes “cinnamon shells” (kanelskal). We talk about the love of Greece and the passion for ceramic creation. We met her in May 2020, one, or two weeks after the Corona curfew expired.
From Norway and Danmark to Milea, the secret paradise in the Mani
You were born in Norway, you studied art in Copenhagen and you have lived many years in Denmark. No Greek parents or relatives: how for God’s sake did you find the Mani?
Well, it was actually my Mother who “discovered” the Mani but I was first in the Messinia! I was a backpacker traveller when I was 19. We came to Messinia and the last destination before I went home was Kyparissia. It was magnificently beautiful and untouched. When I came home I tell to my Mother: you just must travel to Messinia! She did so and came to Agios Nikolaos.
After one night there she decided to go higher up to the mountains. And she found Milea, the secret paradise! Soon she also bought a house here.
You have worked with pottery your entire adult life. Did you also create your art when you were in Greece?
Not from the beginning. I used to come here with my kids in the spring or fall. We hiked in the mountains, enjoyed the sun, the Greek culture and the feeling of being free. But when the youngest child moved away from home, I decided to move permanently to Peloponnesos and open a pottery workshop.
Is your art inspired by Greek pottery?
No, not particularly. Of course I am clearly influenced by pottery exhibitions in Greek museums. But I do not make “tourist ceramics” at all.
The word “ceramics” comes from the Greek keramikos (κεραμικος), meaning “pottery”, which in turn comes from keramos (κεραμος) meaning “potter’s clay”. But what is the difference between pottery and ceramic?
Pottery is more crafts, while ceramics is crafts and art. A potter knows all the techniques, and can reproduce any traditional or modern shape, while the ceramist must invent his or her own shapes, glazings and decorations.
You also work with a special art form: ceramic pictures. Tell me more, I've never heard of ‘ceramic pictures’.
It's something I usually do with old pictures that I want to remember and preserve. I don't want my memories to be locked away in a photo album; I prefer to be in constant contact with them. That's what I do with my “ceramic pictures”; I remember moments and people. The photos I use are first edited on the computer and then manually to highlight the essence of the subject, just the way I want it.
You not live permanently in the Peloponnese?
All though I love it here, I soon have to go back to Denmark where I also have a house. I share my time between Denmark and Greece. I love the contrast between the two countries, and to get the best out of both, I spend most of the summer in Denmark, and most of the winter in Greece. The winter in Greece is wonderful and tranquil, and there are so many beautiful flowers in the early springtime here. I love the feeling of being free!
