From Pencil to Clay
Already in childhood it was clear that my future would be connected with the world of art — they say I was born with a pencil in my hand. Clay felt a little distant to me at first, yet I chose it as the subject of my studies at the Ceramic School in Bechyně.
The turning point came with the birth of my daughter Barbora. At that time, my husband Libor Hanzálek and I bought a dilapidated house in České Budějovice, my home town. We first set up a ceramic workshop there, and only afterwards began renovating the house itself.
The year 1989 brought a new era and with it new opportunities. Together with Libor, I founded Ceramic Studio. This was followed by inspiring study journeys to Japan, Korea and Canada, which shaped me just as deeply as the work with the material itself.
I fell in love with stoneware. This material holds immense possibilities for free hand modelling and became the theme of my life's work. I most enjoy creating stylised animals, various figures, trays with related motifs, and nativity scenes. I decorate stoneware with coloured glazes, but also with gold and platinum. And although ceramics is my life, I have never forgotten the brush and pencil — painting and drawing are my true form of relaxation.
In 2000, Libor and I founded the author gallery Galerie Zlaté rybky. In 2005, our daughter Barbora joined us — and the circle was complete. Today, Ceramic Studio and Galerie Zlaté rybky stand side by side as the work of two generations of one family, a place where our friends also exhibit and sell their work.
