In a cavernous workshop in Kokkini Hani, a group of students are diligently learning how to create life from a shapeless mass.

It’s all part of the latest programme at the Creative Ceramic Workshop on the Anopoli Road, where, in very artistic surroundings, artist Dimitrios Lymberidis passes on the intricacies of his craft to eager students of all ages.

Born in Evros, Mr. Lymberidis came to Crete in 1977, where he studied ceramic art at the Institute of Liberal Arts in Hania. Four years later he opened his first ceramic workshop in Hania, and then, three years after that, he created a workshop in Iraklion, together with a gallery to exhibit his works. Last year he moved his workshop and gallery to Kokkini Hani.

“I am mainly inspired by nature, but also by tradition in creating my works,” he said, “without, however, overlooking the total picture of modern ceramic art which combines the past with the present and the future.”

“What we have always used in ceramics are earth, water, fire and air. Thus, by breathing life into clay we can create useful, but artistic, objects like jars, urns, and candlesticks.”

Over the years, he admitted, the technology of ceramic art makes it easier for potters to work, because the wheel henceforth is electric and the firing kilns work with gas.

Mr. Lymberidis also reported that he can use 15 different types of clay, putting a lot of trust in the quality of Cretan clay. He is the founder and chairman of the “Keramon” association (Friends of Cretan Ceramics) and is also member of the governing board of the Iraklion Chamber of Commerce.

“We are always trying to find and apply new ideas that will bring people nearer to this art,” he said. “Already we have begun since this summer to give courses in ceramics for children and adults, developing teaching techniques in learning the pottery wheel, in free creation (by hand), in baking techniques like raku, terra sigillata and others. All these together make an exceptional play with fire and smoke, giving an unanticipated dimension to ceramic decoration.”