Giving shape to earth

An exhibition of earthenware by design studio Terra-Cottage has a lot on display.

Sometimes it pays to translate your creativity into a business venture. Ask Anjana Kapoor of Terra-Cottage and she'll tell you how her creative urge to do "" as the cliche goes "" "something different" 10 years back translated into a potential business force.

"I made a lot of mistakes," she smiles as we stand to admire her first-ever solo exhibition of earthenware that's going on at India Habitat Centre in New Delhi.

Her mistakes, that included "an investment of a lump-sum amount of Rs 60,000 without giving much thought" were glaring.

Kapoor admits she lacked business acumen in the initial years of starting her career as an entrepreneur but gradually took stock of the situation and now has a comfortable turnover of nearly Rs 14-15 lakh.

For someone who insists she's "still taking baby steps", Kapoor says she's in a lucrative position now. For she had stumbled on this creative business by "merely putting together at home, some of the pottery pieces made by traditional potters of New Delhi's Uttam Nagar".

Today, Kapoor supplies her work to hotel chains like ITC Welcomgroup, "some of the hotels in Mussoorie and Agra that belong to the Jaypee group of hotels", and The Imperial in Delhi.

Besides, her work is also supplied to lifestyle stores in Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad, Pune and Chennai, and she regularly hosts group exhibitions during the festive season. Delhiites may be familiar with her work that is displayed every year at the Blind School Association's Diwali Mela.

The big change this year, she feels, will be tapping the overseas market. She has already shipped consignments to individuals in London and

Australia and is looking at expanding her business in the westward direction. "I've received a lot of positive feedback," she says, while attending to an Israeli tourist who is keen to buy some of Kapoor's designs, "... I'm pretty sure it's the right time for me to cater to an international audience."

Kapoor's glad to be a part of a scenario where the perception of pottery in India is fast changing. "There's a lot of competition," she says, and explains that's the reason why she learnt pottery from Moosa Sadr, an Iranian studio potter based in New Delhi.

"I wanted to familiarise myself with the medium," she says. Today, Kapoor with her three potters make anywhere between 250-300 pottery pieces per month in her studio in Defence Colony.

"This time," she says, speaking about the India Habitat Centre exhibition called Evolution, "I've experimented in wood, glass and terracotta."

The exhibition, conceptualised almost two months ago, is a mix of urns, pots, mirrors, tables and frames done effectively in watercolour finish in blues, reds and even fluorescent colours.

What makes her journey satisfying? "I believe in my work," she says. Looking at her work on display, we can only believe in her too.