Eva Ševčíková
After failing to be accepted for study at the School of Artistic Industry, Ján Viglaš (born 1958) decided to study at the ceramic school in Slovak Folk Majolica in Modra. His wife Jaroslava also graduated from this ceramic school in Modra. After several years of practice in ceramic production in Modra he started to feel the need to continue his own work independently from the work in Majolica. He decided to cooperate with ÚĽUV. The first works were square bottles, humorous jugs with two bellies, jugs with both classical as well as plastic decoration, and figural statues. Later, he supplemented this with painted pictures. He continually added to this collection with different types of bottles, vessels, plastic jugs or owls. The shapes changed continuously. He decided for artistic as well as design reasons to concentrate on more demanding pieces in smaller series. Painted pictures and figural relieves are focused motivationally on depicting artisans, musicians, men working on vineyards, and hunters. Ornaments used on Viglaš family products are based on the tradition of western Slovak workshops depicting Haban patterns. When considering colours, Ján Viglaš states, “In colours, less is sometimes more”. A very different type of activity enriched his craft – building ceramic ovens.