This isn't about Baang Coffee but about the mugs that they use in their coffee shops. This distinctive pottery style—the rough, speckled, natural body with the smooth, color-glazed lip—is the work of master potter Lanelle Abueva Fernando who has her studio and a garden café in
Antipolo City in the province of
Rizal. The speckles are caused by her use of volcanic ash from
Mount Pinatubo. Back in 1991, Mount Pinatubo, located 90 kilometers north of Metro Manila, blew up in one of the worst volcanic eruptions of the 20th century. Lanelle's production of these pieces began as her way of helping the
Aetas displaced by the catastrophe. She brought some of them to her workshop and taught them pottery, using the same material that destroyed their homeland in the first place. Now, it is Lanelle's most popular signature design. Each piece is handcrafted so there are never any two that are exactly alike.
It's that time of the month when I remind all CDP bloggers to please
vote for the December theme! The theme for November 1 is
Doorways. I'm actually dreading this because most places here have privacy walls and I can't even see the doors, much less take pictures of them. Ach!
