English 
Slovenian Potted bottle the Water man and Urška
The potted bootle The Water Man and Urška is an image of a dancing couple who, at a Ljubljana Sunday dance, were forever cast into the Ljubljanica River, which flows through the capital of Slovenia. The myth of the water man, who seduced the beautiful and captivating girl Urška, was depicted by the greatest Slovenian poet, France Prešeren, in his poem Povodni mož. Thus, a piece of rich Slovenian culture is presented in the form of a handmade pottery flask, The Water Man and Urška. They are depicted on their separate sides, yet close together, as they danced and danced faster and faster and finally danced into the waves of the Ljubljanica River. And so became the myth of Ljubljana.
Pottery art clay design by Polona Zajc
Polona Zajc's Pottery art clay design also has a clay souvenir category in its collection of clay products. The images and characters depicted on them are reminiscent of stories and images from the past from different parts of Slovenia. They are made by hand from different types of clay and in different design techniques. They can be turned on a potter's spindle, as impressions of images in clay, or as vessels cast in plaster moulds with liquid clay to give them their shape. This is how the pottery of The Waterman and Urška was created. The plaster mould that gives shape to the flask is made from a handmade figurine in the Pottery Art workshop.
Clay sculpture
The basis for the pottery is a clay figurine. So we first made a clay statue of Urška and the Water Man. We cut the statue in half and made a plaster model out of each half. The impression in the plaster model needed a little editing. We used a thin needle to correct details that did not print well. So that every detail of the sculpture is sculpted into the plaster. The plaster model is air-dried for at least a week. When it is completely dry, it is ready to use. The technology in this process is such that when the liquid clay is poured into the model, the plaster absorbs the water and the clay accumulates on the walls of the model. The clay thus hardened forms the shape that was previously moulded in the plaster model. As the clay dries, it shrinks and the shape comes out of the mould. The two halves are joined together, the lines are worked out and the hollow sculpture is made. And so the hollow pottery is made, and after glazing and firing in the kiln, it holds water or any liquid. It can be used as a container to hold the liquid or as a vase. Of course, there is the clay sculpture, which represents the myth of the dancing couple Urška and the Water man.
